FINDING PURPOSE AND PASSION

I've spent the last few day in Portland looking after my son Caine, who had surgery to repair a broken collarbone.  He flew over the handlebars of his bicycle trying to execute a risky maneuver.  He's an excellent cyclist, but in this case, he exceeded the limits of his skill and the capabilities of the bicycle.  The result was crashing into the asphalt so hard, it shattered his collarbone in two places.  An orthopedic surgeon took three hours to put his bone back together with the help of a metal plate and seven screws.

That event has brought his super active life to a screeching halt, so it's been nice to spend some time with him in a more quiet and mellow atmosphere.  We've been taking walks around Portland and even had a couple of beers at his neighborhood tavern.  Caine lives a very simple life as bicycle mechanic, he has a good social network and and shares a spacious apartment in a trendy area of Portland with his cat, Jojo.  He has little formal education beyond high school, but has the unique ability to quickly learn anything he can get his hands on.

My niece's daughter, Kiana, came through town yesterday and we were able to spend a few hours together cruising around Portland.  Kiana is your classic overachiever.   A national science scholar in high school, she went on to graduate with honors at the University of Rochester in New York.   She's in her third year of a Ph.d program at Harvard studying microbiology and bacteria that grow two miles below the ocean's surface out in the Pacific Ocean.  Ultimately, she'll probably be in the forefront of resolving global water quality issues that will save our planet.

It was interesting watching these two interact yesterday because neither one knew very much about the other's world, but they find common ground in music, culture and of course, our family.  What struck me about these two, was in their own way, they have both found this elusive passion and purpose that every human being seeks.

If finding your passion means identifying your gifts, Caine is just as happy with a torque wrench in his hands as Kiana is with a petri dish in hers.  They both come alive when they talk about their fields and they don't view what they do as work, which is the key to finding your passion.

If it's true that our purpose is to deliver these gifts to the world, then both Caine and Kiana have figured out the best way to positively affect the people around them, whether its giving a bicycle repair class or delivering a research paper.   Caine and Kiana are living evidence that finding your purpose and passion has nothing to do with education and/or experience.

It's simply doing what makes you come alive then putting it out in the world to benefit others.