For starters, I am someone that thrives off of having fun. If there is an opportunity to have fun, I struggle to turn it down. That's not to say that I give it highest priority in my life, but it is my passion in life. In my mind, fun is being physically active, passing time with your friends, and in general just participating in social gatherings. As I may or may not have previously mentioned, I play hockey on a weekly basis. This is the light at the end of my tunnel. When there is nothing else to which I can look and be excited, hockey is what gets me through the week. I have such a deep passion for it. I find that participating in hockey and other physically demanding activities fuels me with excitement. For some reason, I am never so grateful to be alive as when I'm using the body God gave me. I don't know how such joy and excitement could ever be found without a body. Another hobby of mine is working on cars. My car is a project in and of itself, but that's what I get for driving a car that's been around as long as my parents have been married. The joy I receive from working on cars varies from that of hockey though. When I work on my car, I like to fix things or bring it closer to its former glory. There is a sense of accomplishment that comes with successfully creating beauty. I realize that not everyone finds cars to be beautiful, especially those from the early 80's, but when you're investing yourself in something, you learn to find its beauty. The knowledge I have gained from working on my own car, has opened up opportunities for me to reach out and help others. Many times friends have asked me for help in fixing their cars or in finding problems they can't pinpoint. This brings me to the more full part of this post.
When I answered my friend I told her that I will pursue fun all my life, and continue to be active so long as my body permits. This is true. I would like the quote "we don't quit playing because we get old, we get old because we quit playing," to be true of me. However, there is something else that drives me, something that will even override my desire for fun. This is my desire to help others and to care for them. I care deeply about those in my life. It doesn't seem to matter if I know you extremely well, or if we've only just met, but once you're a part of my life, I will do whatever I can to help you out and take care of you. There have been a number of times I can recall inconveniencing myself in order to just talk to a friend in need. This isn't because I'm a great person (I really don't want to toot my own horn, I'm just trying to express my priorities in life), it's simply my desire to help others. I am a firm believer in the "pay it forward" attitude. I hate it when people try and pay me back for things I do. I would much rather see people in turn reach out and help someone else that may need it. This world is an unforgiving place, but by lifting the hands of those that are broken or hurting, the nature of the world doesn't seem to matter so much.
I am driven by a couple of things, but in reality it's all the same thing. I am driven by happiness. I find happiness in my outlets of pursuing fun and adventure, and I seek to help others to be happy. This is essentially what is most important to me, and what always has, does and forever will drive me.
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