Motivation, Passion and Drive

What sparked this post was a friend asking me "what motivates you?", a question asked to help me do better at the ABS Nationals. To that, I had no answer, which was strange because it's not a difficult question. Instead I said that I am driven and I have a lot of passion for the things that I do, especially for climbing. But what actually motivates me?? Food and travel I think. Oh and sleep. 

Merriam-Webster Definitions for the three:

mo·tive

1: something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act

pas·sion

4 a (1) : emotion "his ruling passion is greed" (2) plural : the emotions as distinguished from reason b : intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction c : an outbreak of anger

5 a : ardent affection : love b : a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept c : sexual desire d : an object of desire or deep interest

drive

a : an urgent, basic, or instinctual need : a motivating physiological condition of an organism (a sexual drive) b : an impelling culturally acquired concern, interest, or longing (the drive to succeed)

Hmmm, these definitions are not satisfying enough for me... Psychologists believe that having motivation is a large part of survival.  I'm thirsty, therefore I will drink this water, I'm hungry, so I will eat etc. But for me, is climbing really something I need to survive? Maybe...

I am passionate about practically everything that I do, in terms of work and play. But when I think about it, nothing really motivates me to do anything in my life. Money or the amount of money is generally not a motivator; otherwise I would be working a lot more than I do now. I feel that I am satisfied with my lifestyle the way it is, until something changes. In all, I don't believe that I have motivation...

Motivation, passion and drive could be explained by an example of a car getting from point A to point B.  What Jenn and I decided is that the fuel is passion, the engine is the drive, and the driver is motivation. Motivation can then be described as the source that allows one to get to a destination. The navigator. But, it is clear, that after talking with some friends, some often lack one of the three. Two of my closest friends have said that they are driven and totally motivated, but possess no passion. Do you really need all three to be successful? Do you need all three to be happy? I feel I am a fairly happy individual, when I get the things that I want.  So, maybe for me, happiness is the motivator.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and beliefs on this subject. I am baffled by all of this. This was quite a confusing and difficult post to write, as I still have no idea what I am talking about.

Fate or Free Will?

The last few weeks for me have been a struggle. Not just in getting motivated to climb, but motivated for life. When things don't go the way you planned, what is the best way to deal with it?

I sat down on the couch with my friend, and in an attempt at distracting me and keeping my mind off of things, we watched some Disney movie. Obviously that worked, because I don't even remember the title. On the couch, we discussed the influence of fate in life. How much can you believe in it? I figured out, that I am not one to fully believe in fate, and that life is generally what you make of it. My life is a product of total drive and desire. But, I run into road blocks, and when I don't get what I planned on getting, I try to justify it. This time, I justified fate. Since I cannot explain why recent things happened in my life, I tried to explain it through fate. As Jamison put it, fate isn't something that needs to be explained, it's just something that is. "Let go" he said. And it hit me hard. That's all I can do right now, and move on. I read a great quote that summarized this discussion and made me feel better about things that you can control, and the things you cannot.

"Destiny is a play between divine grace and willful self effort. Half of it you have no control over, the other of it is absolutely in your hands and your actions will show measurable consequence. Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny. He is a little of both. We gallop through our lives like circus performers balancing on two speeding side-by-side horses. One foot is on the horse called "Faith", and the other on the horse called "Free Will" and the questions you have to ask every day is which horse is which, which horse do I need to stop worrying about because it's not under my control and which do I steer with concentrated effort." - Elizabeth Gilbert

The Face Behind Girl Beta

I am finally open to the possibility that people could actually know me... But of course I am scared to share my thoughts, feelings and motivations to the public. And a good example of my fear, is asking my friend what I should say for my first blog post.

"This is my blog. This is my life. It's a weird thought keeping a blog" - Jenn Brunson.

And so I will use her words to begin this discourse that is my being.