Choose Passion, Not Anger

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not out to change the world.  I hardly have my own life figured out, and when I’m struggling to pinpoint what I want to focus my energies on, it’s hard to feel qualified enough to give advice.  But a recent discussion-turned-south caused an idea to bubble up inside me, and I think it’s worth sharing.

Choose passion, not anger.

Anger doesn’t get you anywhere.  Anger pushes people away.  Yes, it’s fine to be angry about an issue and the way an issue is treated (take women’s equality, or the controversial discussions over whether “gray” area foods are paleo).  But the minute that anger bleeds into other parts of your life or you lash out at others for not seeing eye to eye with you, negativity spreads.  And that’s not fine.

Anger, left as it is, doesn’t solve anything.  It’s negative – it ends up causing you to distance yourself from others and at its worst ends in violence.

Instead, let that anger fuel a more positive feeling.  One of passion.  Turn that anger into a motivation to do something about what makes you angry.  Maybe that’s volunteering, or giving to/supporting an organization that feels the same way on the subject that you do.  Maybe it means educating yourself about the topic and trying to spread your knowledge without getting angry at someone for not agreeing.

One of the reasons I bought a domain, paid for hosting, and have started writing down my recipes and taking very amateur pictures of my food is because food is something I’m passionate about (just so happens I’m passionate about paleo and CrossFit, which is why I zeroed in on that).  Maybe after a while my goals and interests will shift, and I’ll start writing about something else.  As long as I can say that I’m passionate about something and I’m actively doing something to fuel that passion, I’m happy.

I’m certainly not saying that writing a blog is the golden answer to all anger and negativity.  There are lots of things in the world that piss me off.  But trust me, you’ll feel a lot better about life if you choose to be passionate about an issue that fires you up rather than just angry about it.

#PassionNotAnger

What is something you are passionate about?  How do you spread that passion?