I’ve said more about the peace side of Passion and Peace than the passion side. You may even still think of them as opposites. So I’ll say again: Peacefulness does not mean inaction, and Passion does not mean endless action. They balance one another.
I came across an article that discusses Passion Burnout. We’ve all heard, “Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Turns out that’s not true!
There’s a difference between Harmonious Passion—work we love and enjoy doing but does not consume all our energy—and Obsessive Passion—which does consume all of you.
But I want you to read the article for yourself. Click the image below to go to the article.
So love what you do but love yourself more. Don’t lose yourself in any pursuit. And if you find yourself anxious over putting down a project or endeavor for a break, you have probably crossed the line from harmonious passion to obsessive passion.
In my last blog post, I shared that 2023 would bring some changes to my website, email list, and social media. I promised to share what they would be soon. So here are the changes.
Butterfly Changes
There are two changes.
Combining Groups
First, I have two Facebook groups associated with my website and the journey I envisioned when I set it up. Pursuing Passionate Peace was created to seek out the balance between pursuing those things about which we are passionate with keeping an internal sense of peace and calm (even if the circumstances are anything but). Poring Over Scripture was created for those who wanted to dive deeper (pore over) Bible passages, and tolerate me geeking out about details that excite very few people other than me.
I need to combine these groups. One reason is because time constraints mean I can only focus on a single group effectively (except for a short term thing). The other is that I no longer have a desire to separate these two emphases.
I will invite one group to the other and the group name will be changing.
Honed Content Focus
Second, in this the upcoming year, I will focus in on balancing passion and peace. I do this from the perspective of my Christian faith. While I realize this isn’t true of everyone, this is who I am and I’m very clear on what I am called to do in this season of my life. Those who don’t appreciate the faith aspect may filter it out, but I will not be.
The Why
Why make these changes?
Because the separation of the groups and content was making a fundamental mistake in truly finding the balance of passion and peace.
We attempt to separate our bodies, our mind/will/emotions (also known as our soul) and our spirits from one another. Not only is this impossible to do but the attempt isn’t healthy.
I will be saying more about this throughout the year. For now, here’s my premise:
Each and every one of us were magnificently created as a triune being by a Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
You are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body.
All three parts of you must function cooperatively for you to find and keep a balance of passion and peace. This is what it means to be who you were created to be. So we will be exploring these three aspects of ourselves, how they interact, and how we can fully-integrate them.
Full of challenges with some moments of joy and love thrown in?? Same.
The last few years have held some challenges for me. I started this website (and the groups that accompany it) during a time of growth and healing for myself. I had stepped aside from church-based ministry into the nonprofit world. My soul still longed for ministry and I knew others needed the lessons I had learned.
Since then, I have transitioned back to church-based ministry and had a health crisis. The new role brought some stress and our staff experienced some tragedies and trauma. Additionally, the world brought challenges we all faced, including a worldwide pandemic.
Through it all, my faith sustained me. Scripture and the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that this (how the world is) is not how it’s supposed to be. I don’t have to accept that this is as good as it gets. I’ve clung to Jesus’ promises to always be with us and to give us peace—a peace that is different from the world.
I finally feel ready to share pieces of that journey is the hope that it encourages you to be whole, healthy, and entirely devoted to God.
This means that the topics here on the website and in the groups will be shifting somewhat.
I hope you’ll stick around and go on the journey with me.
So welcome to 2023! Let this year be the one you discover your purpose, your peace, and your passion for life.
