This will hopefully be short. I have this tendency to write with an increased level of verbosity and verbage than i would use in conversation. i will try to avoid that in this short bit. this may also be one of the few blogs with a continuous thread of thought.
i’ll start here: i was reading an article on msn.com the other day which gave tips to women on how to get their silent man to chat. Knowing women have complained about this to me in the past, i was looking to see what kind of advice they were passing out like so many glow-in-the-dark condoms at the community college health fair.
i was thinking of the first bit of advice tonight when i was chatting with a friend of mine. we were both whining about church; a favorite past time for me. And then i got online to check out a site before i forgot. it just so happened to be a site on a new extremely practical technology for third world situations.
the first suggestion in the msn article says to “ask about a subject he’s interested in.” if you were to ask me about my day, you would get a short and pat answer. if you were to ask me about my week, you would get a slightly longer but still terse reply. Ask me about something that interests me, however (my life rarely does), and i’ll just vent like you’re my favorite shrink. it’ll be a big ‘kaboom’ of impassioned chatter until i use up all 7,000 of my words (vice the 20,000 words-per-day women have according the latest stats i’ve seen).
and now, on to passion. i have a passion for things that aren’t necessarily common (true in both meanings of that phrase). one of the things i like to do is empowerment- like if someone were to have a desire to start their own business or accomplish any important goals, i’d be right there bugging them about it and pushing them to completion beause i love seeing people struggle and then accomplish. it’s awesome.
so to get a silent man to talk, ask him what about his passions. you may have to do some gentle probing/ good observation to find these out, but it will be worth it. to find out if this man is worth your time, ladies, consider these same passions and how they mix with yours.
my life, without the passions/dreams/lifetime goals that i have, would be worthless. seriously, if i didn’t have those things which pulled me through a few very difficult long-term scenarios, i’m not sure how alive in any sense of the word i would be today.
and just for the record- to put a kink in this armor of perfectness i try to put on everyday - i’ve considered suicide several times before. i can’t do it because of these passions ( in the most non-Valentine’s Day form of the word). This should now be a happy ending.
THE END
P.S. There’s a little spot down here to leave a comment, if you wish. perhaps a little something about your passions?
I have passion for change.
I want to see movement, I want to see passion. I want to see change.
I want prayer to bring more prayer; I want that prayer to bring change. I want genuine, real, authentic, bona fide people to rise out of this pseudo culture. I want to stop standing by while others kill.
I have passion for change in my son, as he becomes a man.
I have passion for my wife, but that’s a different subject.
I feel strongly about other things, but it’s in the end though, I simply want to see an alteration in the world around me. I want change.
I don’t know what it will be, and it takes all I’ve got to think I could, but I want to create change.
I desire to see leaders step out of their fear, to see them create change, and unleash their passions as they never dreamed they had. Seeing them stepping on to crowded floors, forgetting their inabilities. Changing those around them.
I’m longing to see faith, and miracles, here, in the US, and around the world. I am wishing for limbs to be healed, eyes to see, the deaf to hear, and the heartbroken renewed. When one leaps away when they could only sit, then I’ll be satisfied, if for a moment.
If nobody moves, is transformed or sees life in a different manner, then I will not be happy. But if somebody meets my life and we collide and both become better, then I will have accomplished my side of my bargain with God.
And even in these words, my hope is that you too will change.
Thank God for 2 things: 1) People like you who are moved to empower others, to push people like myself who have big goals but tend to back off when it gets too hard, and 2) That the passions in your life have been strong enough to keep you here. What a tragedy it would have been otherwise.
And on a little sidenote, I have a passion to encourage people - to lift them up when the world has beaten them down, to show them the awesomeness that is them, and encourage them to move forward. It’s quite fantastic.
I like Joanna’s note, and agree with her. Your attitude toward helping others is inspirational, humbling, and really does make a difference.