Never Lose Your Passion

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

A few days ago I witnessed something that absolutely broke my heart because it made me realize that no matter at what age it is said, it’s still diminishing to hear.

I was at the store waiting to pay for my groceries. There was a boy, no more than six years old who was trying to talk to his mother about something and she kept responding dully with ‘uh huhs’ and ‘yeahs’.  Her eyes were focused on her phone – I have no idea what she was looking at, but they were in the line next to me. From what I could tell, the boy was excited about “Captain America : Civil War” coming out soon and how awesome it was going to be (and let’s face it, it’s going to be amazing). At one point, he grabbed an action figure of Captain America that happened to be resting on a magazine rack (I guess someone put it there). He kept trying to get his mom’s attention, trying to show her the figure, and explain to her how cool Captain America will be in the movie. Finally, she looked over and stared at at the figure blankly before saying:

“Oh, I thought it was something important.”

It was as though someone told the kid that Santa didn’t exist. His crestfallen eyes gazed at the Captain America figure and he bit his lip. He put the action figure back and kept quiet for the remainder of their time in the store. His head was bowed and his mother kept prattling away on her phone until it was their turn in the checkout line.

For the record, I am not a parent nor do I intend on being one, but when you diminish someone’s passion it hurts them terribly. I’ve seen it in relationships where partners attempt to express something they’re passionate about to their significant other only to be shot down with that line, if not something similar to it. The awkward silence that follows that line is the listener realizing that that person may not care and the other one questioning: is what I feel so strongly about important?

Yes, yes it is because that something is a part of who you are. It’s something that makes you grin from ear to ear and want to shout it to the world because you find it wonderful.  It’s something that inspires you, gives you life, and makes you excited as a child on Christmas morning. It’s a part of you that has deeply affected you in some way. Never lose whatever that special something is.

Furthermore, never lose sight of what makes you feel alive because someone disapproves of it or simply doesn’t care. If that person doesn’t understand your passion or enthusiasm for something you love dearly and proceeds to diminish it and berate you about it, then you really have to wonder if they appreciate you.  When they tell you, “Oh I thought it was something important” you tell them, “Well it’s important to me.” If they brush that off, fight you about it, or refuse to understand why you love what you do, then forget them. Find someone else to vent your passions to, teach them about how wonderful it is, and why it makes you love it so.  There are tons of people in the world who share the same passions as you; you either haven’t met them yet or you will meet them in due time.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what do you love so dearly and why?