Relationships Information presented by the helpful gang over at personals4all

Passion or Purpose?


I hate moderation. I hate doing things moderately. I hate having to be controlled, mature, and disciplined. I don't want to moderate how much I eat or drink. I don't want to be moderate with sex, or playing, or vacations. I don't want to moderate what I say for fear it will offend. I don't want to do what's "good for me."

I DO want to have a second piece of pie because it tastes good. Sometimes, I do want to have hot sweaty sex at night and again in the morning because it tastes good. I want to run to the roller coaster at Disneyland with the rest of the nine-year-old boys. But I can't.

The pie is bad for my weight and cholesterol. The morning sex will disturb my exhausted, sleeping wife and negatively affect my marital relational love. The other parents at Disneyland will think I'm weird.

We all know what moderation, control, and discipline really means. It means, "I don't get to have what I want. I get to watch other people have what I want; and seem to get away with it. I get to convince myself that raw vegetables taste as good as a Krispy Kreme. I don't just delay my gratification, I simply don't 'get no satisfaction.'"

I know I need to be somewhat moderate, disciplined, and controlled to live life effectively and for a long time--both of which I want. But what about the juice of life--passion? I love being passionate. Does passion have room for discipline and moderation or does it eat them? Does sensual, hedonistic, glorious pleasure have to wear the belt of moderation? To quote McCauley Culkin, the font of wisdom and good choices, "I don't think so."

Part of the wonder of new romances is doing things "over the top;" being infatuated and going with it through cards and flowers and three hour phone calls and getting into work late and tired. Real passion for something makes other things seem like white noise and static. Passion almost demands that other stuff be put aside so you can be excessive. For a year, I wrote most of my first book Stepping Stones, between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. and on weekends feeling possessed with a sense of needful urgency to write. I'm ashamed to admit that it was great even though I didn't spend as much time with my family.

As I look back, I think the times I've been happiest in my life, I have been obsessed and passionate about something: school, a woman, building my career, exercise; the occasionally sublime nexus moment I talk about in Steppingstones. At these times, I am almost never moderate. I don't always feel out of control; but I am definitely excessive with my priority, big time; making everything else number two; figuratively of course.

Are passion and purpose something you have to balance? Or does being passionate help you with your purpose and vice versa? If you try to balance hedonistic passion and mature, effective living, are you cheating yourself out of both? Can you hurl yourself into the moment and be moderate?

I need to go now. My spinach salad and diet 7-UP are getting warm.

Light and Love,

About The Author

Dr. Tim Sams is the author of Stepping Stones: 10 Steps to Seizing Passion and Purpose; the book is available through his web site: http://www.mysacredjourney.com/bookstore.htm, and at all online bookstores.

Dr. Sams is a University of Michigan graduate who interned at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. He is a diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management and the American College of Forensic Medicine. He originally trained as a medical and health psychologist with specialty training in behavioral medicine, the melding of medicine and psychology, mind and body. Though he had taken dozens of classes in biology, anatomy, and physiology, over time his clinical passion for alleviating physical pain blossomed and he obtained a Master's of Science with emphasis on the medical basis of orthopedic, neurologic, and myofascial pain.

He is a frequent lecturer on pain management throughout the United States. He authored the most comprehensive patient pain manual scheduled for release in June, 2005. He writes a free, biweekly newsletter called Advances in Medicine that you can sign up for on this website.

Dr. Tim is a motivator and a teacher; a caring soul who believes that humor is one of the best weapons against pain; that and really good drugs.

Dr. Tim has multiple offices in Southern California, consulting to a few dozen pain physicians and hundreds of primary care physicians and orthopedic surgeons. He spends one day a week in his office educating patients at http://www.MyPainReliefDoc.com.

He lives and plays in Orange County, California with his wife Lari and his daughter, Leah. He spends most of his non-family free time jogging, swimming, reading, or writing.

Copyright 2004. Dr. Tim Sams. All rights reserved.

drtimsams@yahoo.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Comerica Bank Expands Into Ventura County
MarketWatch - 46 minutes ago
Our commitment to the city of Westlake Village will allow us to build stronger relationships with local consumers and small businesses in the area, ...


Restore peace in relationships
Victoria Advocate, TX - 1 hour ago
A lot of wonderful things can happen when two people come together in a relationship. But it's also true that whenever imperfect human beings start forming ...


Examiner.com

Relationships in the news: Jennifer Garner fears stalker
Examiner.com - 14 hours ago
by Debra Collins, Relationship Examiner Actress Jennifer Garner was granted a three year restraining order today for herself, her husband Ben Affleck, ...


Plenty of past relationships in Apple Cup
SportingNews.com - Nov 20, 2008
SEATTLE (AP) -- Cody Bruns used to get grief as a kid growing up in southeastern Washington. Smack in the middle of Cougar country, Bruns would proudly wear ...


CTV.ca

Know which relationships count
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - Nov 19, 2008
Good for Tom Friedman, the St. Louis Park kid who grew up to become a topnotch New York Times columnist and author, for paying attention to the relationship ...
Video: Hillary Will Get SOS Nom Soon CBS
GOP applauds Hillary as potential secretary of state Newsday
Clinton as top US diplomat? OK by top GOP senator The Associated Press
NewsBusters - Toronto Star
all 5,039 news articles


Anixter International Inc. Comments on Customer Bankruptcy
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
A current assessment of our key customer relationships shows this situation to be unique in terms of the circumstances and relative size of the exposure. ...
Anixter to take charge on customer bankruptcy Chicago Tribune
Anixter International Inc. Comments on Customer Bankruptcy International Business Times
all 21 news articles


SafePlace awared $1M grant to promote safe teen relationships
Bizjournals.com, NC - Nov 20, 2008
SafePlace has been awarded a grant of up to $1 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a program that promotes healthy, safe teen relationships. ...
$18 Million Dollar Initiative to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence PNN
Boston gets $1 million to prevent teen violence Boston Globe (registration)
all 6 news articles


Better family relationships goal of Placerville program
Sacramento Bee,  USA - 4 hours ago
By Cathy Locke By Cathy Locke "Parenting from the Heart" workshops, designed to help parents improve their relationship with their children, will be offered ...


Round Valley schools focus on relationships, new ideas
White Mountain Independent, AZ - 7 hours ago
Udall, in his third year with the district, said Round Valley schools will continue to focus on relationships, both among each other and with parents. ...


Relationships with caregivers in childcare affect kids’ stress
Entertainment and Showbiz!, India - 16 hours ago
Conflicted relationships were said to occur when teachers tried to control resistant children, when children perceived their teachers as unfriendly, ...

Relationships - Google News

home | site map
© 2006