Where Does Passion Come From?

My post today is about the source of passion. Where does it come from? We all know that passion is something most people like to be around. It is an almost contagious way of feeling, talking, and exploring a subject. What is the source of passion? How do I become more passionate? People are drawn to passion. Whether you are passionate about your hobby, your sports team, your job, or you faith in God - anyone who observes it usually shows some interest in why you are so passionate about your subject of choice. I believe the one thing that motivates passion in someone and causes them to grow more and more excited is one thing - their love for the subject. In some ways I believe it is totally unfair to talk about passion without mentioning love because love fuels their passion. Those that don't love much, don't show much passion for life. Those that have a burning desire to communicate what they are learning and share it with others are usually defined as passionate. Passion is something that employers usually want to see in their employees. Passion is what causes a salesman to sell so many of his/her products. How can we be more passionate? I have several ways I believe will help to grow more passionate:
1. Study what you are passionate about. If you are truly excited about something, studying it shouldn't be an effort.
2. Invest time and money in your subject of interest. Put your money where your mouth is - as the saying goes. Those that don't invest time and money (very closely related) in their interest show they lack interest.
3. Talk about your passion with others. It is hard to be passionate about something without talking to others about it. Communicating in words and writing are two ways you can increase your knowledge of something and encourage others to dive deeper into your love.
4. If you are passionate about someone - spend time with them whenever possible. This one relates to #2, but I reiterate because obviously there is a difference between passionate about something vs. someone. If you are truly in love with someone, you must make it a priority to spend quality time with them (whether it be a work mentor, a best friend, or a spouse).

Note on the Picture: the balloon flame is supposed to represent the flame of passion NOT symbolize that this blog post is all hot air.

Rollercoasters and the Meaning of Life

A few weekends ago, I decided to go to the King's Dominion Amusement Park with my wife. In my younger days, I have always been up for a good scare doing all the roller coasters I could jump on. I have been to Six Flags, and Hershey Park and had a good time trying to ride the wildest, craziest rides possible, getting all that adrenaline flowing and feeling the thrill in my blood. Well I must be getting old or something!!!! OK, I'm not that old yet. I'm only 27 years old, and I still enjoy doing things exciting (i.e. mountain biking, driving fast, I even break 65 mph from time to time, etc.). I'm not ready for the rocking chair. Yet going to King's Dominion was: - how do I say this - humbling. I ended up riding two rides that terrified the living daylights out of me. Maybe it's this whole marriage thing, but life didn't seem worth throwing away on a run away roller coaster. Of course roller coaster accidents rarely occur, but there is always that 0.01% chance that you will fall out. It's not worth it I tell you. There is so much life to enjoy why raise your blood pressure and make yourself feel like you are jumping off a cliff with no harness? I do hope to live a long enjoyable life, and although I had a great time with my wife, and thought it was great eating a funnel cake and riding go-carts, I believe I will leave the crazy roller coasters to those who want to make their body feel like they are about to die. I for one am for having life and having it more abundantly. Of course Jesus is the only One who can truly give that (John 10:10).

All the President's Men (movie review)

OK, time for the following Netflix review of the 1970's movie "All the President's Men". This movie starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman (in their prime - people, in their prime). It was all about the Watergate incident and how two reporters at the Washington Post found out all about it and exposed it for what it was. It was a pretty interesting movie about reporters however it was mangled with some language that was pretty crude and offensive. I'm not sure if that was realistic or not (having never worked for a newspaper), but it did lower my enjoyment of the film. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman were great. They are such good actors, and as Chrystal remarked - Robert Redford was - in those days - the Brad Pitt of his day. Some of the story may have been glamorized a bit for the movies, but as I'm no expert on the Watergate incident, I enjoyed it even if part of it was fictional. That's the thing with historical movies. It is pretty hard to take a biography or true historical event and make a movie out of it that is spell-binding to watch. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is an example of this. The show and the books are two different stories almost. Enough of this review. If you like Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman - you'll probably like All the President's Men.

Neat ending by the way. I won't give it away, but I thought it was creative and well done.

Amadeus Movie Review

Ok, I decided to join Netflix and since I have increased the amount of entire movies I'm watching (as opposed to a part here and there between commercials as TV gives you), I thought I should write an analysis of the movie and what I think of it. After all, I don't believe in just allowing movies to influence my thinking and worldview without really thinking to how it applies to life.

First movie I watched was the 80s classic "Amadeus". I know. I know, this has been around for a while and here it is 2006 and I'm just beginning to watch it. Well at least I finally did. I used to take piano lessons, so I have played some amount of Mozart and do have respect for him as a composer and musical genius. My wife and I sat down watching Amadeus and we quickly became hooked. I thought it was very well written and definitely did not have the boring pace of "Pride and Prejudice" (no offense to all who love those movies). I found it fascinating that one of the main opponents of Mozart was this character who actually loved Mozart and was astounded at his brilliance in music, yet believed that he wasn't as blessed from the Lord with the gift of music. In the long run, he becomes bent on destroying this man and becomes bitter at God. Why? Mainly because he believed that God had given Mozart a gift he didn't deserve. Mozart was kind of a wild fellow, and although he was diligent the main guy (I forget his name) became jealous to the point of turning his back on God believing that he was blessed with less of a gift of music than Mozart. Sounds like he worshipped the gift of music more than the One who gives us good music (God). His idolatry finally climaxed when he worked Mozart to death, and then ended up going insane himself. Fascinating. Really showed how common grace in music is given in different portions to different people and the danger of becoming so obsessed with the talent and success of another that you lose your joy in what you've been given.

For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 ESV

X-Men 3 - The Last Stand
I have to confess that this movie was entertaining but not very substational. I had seen all the other X-men movies, so I decided to watch this one and it definitely offered plenty of action-packed clips. However there were parts that I just found kind of boring and without character development. First of all Wolverine in my opinion was just a cocky know-it-all who kind of got annoying with how powerful and great he thought he was. The other thing is that he says a line in there that really made me wonder if the script writer had a father problem. Wolverine tries to give counsel to one character and when she thinks he should give her an order to do the right thing Wolverine replies "I'm not your father, I'm your friend." What does that mean? All fathers are supposed to be bossy and not care what their children are struggling with and true friends understand in a way no father could? Lame, lame, lame. Fortunately, I was blessed with a father I would also consider my friend. On top of that, they all unite and live happily ever after. Kind of disappointing, and not worth re-watching in my opinion. However, our of 5 stars, I would give it about 3.5 because it still was better than Fantastic Four and the childish take-off Zoom in my opinion. That's my two cents.

The Value of Friendship

"No man is poor who has friends" - Clarance the Angel in "It's a Wonderful Life" - Having friends is one of the most important things you can have in this life. Friends help you to cope with tough times, celebrate good times and can offer you wise counsel that can save you a lot of pain. However, in order to make friends, you many times have to make the first move and be a friend. Before Chrystal and I started dating we would hang out at parties, and do things together in our group of friends, that helped us both get to know one another better and helped us to know whether we would enjoy dating each other. Over time we realized that we wanted to share life together and "tie the knot" so to speak. I'm so glad that I did. I don't ever look back on this decision with regret. Friends have value you can't measure in money.

Once-favorite movie

Do you ever have a favorite movie that you used to like, but find over time, it becomes less than you thought of it? I have. One movie I used to really think highly of was a movie called "Garden State". It is the story of a boy who is trying to find out who he is, and goes back to his home town to hang out with a bunch of his friends. He ends up finding that most of his friends are still addicted to drugs or basically just a bunch of losers and in the process tries to understand his father and falls in love with a girl who literally changes his life. At one point I felt that I sort of related, but after thinking more about it, I realize that this movie really portrays young adults as people who want to shrug off responsibility and live the life of a teenager with all the privileges of adulthood but none of the responsibility. It had some good points, like riches can make you feel empty and bored, but it also seemed to paint a sad picture of what young adults in America are trying to find - meaning in life. On top of that, it shows that many times they get stuck addicted to drugs, and in monotonous careers but few find the true value of loving another person. Fortunately the main character does eventually. It was at one time one of my favorite movies, but now - not so much.

Introduction

Hi there. This is me and my beautiful wife Chrystal. We just got married and thought we would create a blog together of our life.

Life is an adventure. I love it. I enjoy reading, chess, and spending time with my wife. I also enjoy reading my Bible, attending a great church, and have good times with friends (who doesn't?).

Chrystal really enjoys line dancing, reading, talking on the phone with friends, organizing our apartment, learning how to cook and a good movie.