Having purpose and passion is an important energy source enabling us to overcome obstacles and experience renewal. Passionate people have grit. Grit is revealed in passion and perseverance. It’s what it takes to stay the course. Like running a marathon. Grit is a passionate commitment to the challenge in spite of adversity, disappointment or boredom (Duckwork et al., 2007).

The adult passions listed below are offered by Fredrick Hudson and Patricia McLean (2001) as an alternative value base. You can build or rebuild your life on these four values. They are attitudes and dispositions of the heart.

  • Share yourself: Speak from the heart, be a friend, seek fairness, be open to new ways, offer intimacy and risk rejection, touch, avoid blaming, face conflict, seek solutions, speak the truth. Being engaged in community is actually a very healthy thing to do. Here is an interesting finding discussed by Robert Putnam in his book, Bowling Alone (2000): “If you belong to no groups but decide to join one, you cut your risk of dying over next year in half.”
  • Express yourself: Follow your feelings, learn simple ways to express yourself, shout and laugh when you are alone, sing daily, fly a kite, be with people who are not afraid to have fun.
  • Integrate yourself (towards wholeness): Meditate daily, look at life with eyes wide open, pray, listen, walk in nature, seek wisdom from wise men and women, learn your family history and complete a Genogram, mentor someone, read biographies, listen to music, seek a faith that satisfies.
  • Give yourself: Do good, practice graciousness, replace getting with giving, and pursue God, your family, your community. Volunteer to serve somewhere or someone. “When we do things for others, we see how we can make a difference, and this gives us confidence in our own ability to create change. Throughout the course of our lives, well-doing promotes deeper social interaction, enhanced meaning and purpose, and a more active lifestyle – while keeping us from being too preoccupied with ourselves or getting into harmful emotional states. . . well-doing inoculates us against stress and negative emotions” (Rath and Harter). Albert Schweitzer, M.D. wrote, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know, the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve” (cited in Wicks, 2006).