It is a common desire for most people as they embark on this journey of life to attempt to do so with some sense of purpose and meaning. The idea of aimlessly wandering through days, months and even years of existence without ever really weaving the sum of our experiences into the fabric of who we are leaves us feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

We spend the majority of our time and focus on collecting the dots of life, unfortunately we run out of time and energy to be able to actually connect them. It is the connecting part that puts the smile on our face, the spring in our step and the very real sense of wellbeing down in our soul.

After all, we know the real good stuff about life, the stuff that invigorates and energizes us has much less to do with places and things and much more to do with people and purpose. Intangible qualities like caring and commitment oddly enough lead us toward a sense of meaning in life we so earnestly want.

If purpose is ultimately realized through caring about something or someone, then the question becomes how do we learn to care? After all, if I feel passionately about a person or a cause then the logical progression would be to make a commitment to what I am feeling. It is this “cart before the horse” mentality where emotion clouds logic and betrays genuine commitment.

Real passion, that is to say caring with an emotional component, follows our commitment to simply act. It is when we are moved to act that enduring, meaningful feelings kick in like an afterburner to sustain our initial decision.

Love is s an action word. Caring comes in waves as we are doing. Strong feelings always follow our decisions to participate in those things that matter to us the most. A life lived on purpose is achieved through conscientious and intentional decisions to commit ourselves first and care as a result.

On the other hand, fading feelings often reflect wavering commitment. It is predictable to say the least that our feelings about something or someone would begin to subside as our choices to actively care diminish.On a final note, just remember that if you stop doing the things that created the passion;the passion becomes anemic.