<p>How do you know if you have a passion? If you find or discover your passion when you are 16-17 years old, would it be too late to pursue it? For example, the performing arts; I have recently discovered that I could be very happy participating in the performing arts. I want to pursue it and I haven't participated in it since I was in elementary school, but would it be too late now? Also, would that take away from your passion if you previously thought you didn't care for that path, but ended up changing your mind later in life? Would that mean that it's not really your passion?</p>
<p>I find the idea of a 'passion' kind of annoying, to be honest. Yes, there are some people who know when they're 5 what they're going to do for the rest of their life, even as a hobby, and most high school kids have some things they enjoy doing and would like to pursue, but plenty of people don't find their calling or true happiness until college or after. I don't see why it can't be a passion if it develops later in life, why 'passion' sometimes seems on these boards like it's something decided at birth.
It's about pursuing what you love and trying what you don't expect to love. It's about finding what makes you happy, when you're 5 or when you're 50, and chances are they won't be the same thing. And there is nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>The word "passion" has been completely overused and twisted by the whole college process.</p>
<p>What they mean by "passion" is something that you're really into - a subject matter or hobby or activity that you're really engaged in, that you enjoy, and that is an important part of your life. For instance: you could be passionate about working at your church (/synagogue/mosque) or about astrophysics or about the history of ancient Rome. What would that mean? Well, it would mean spending a significant amount of time doing whatever that particular passion entails - working at the church, reading about or taking classes in astrophysics (or doing research), or going to a lot of art exhibits or maybe even going to Rome. </p>
<p>Those are just examples, but the underlying theme is the same. A passion is something that you really, honestly love to do, and are happy to take the time to do even when it doesn't necessarily have a benefit for you (i.e. community service hours, etc.)</p>
<p>That's great advice thanks. I just wanted to know if I had found my passion too late and, because of this, it meant it wasn't my passion in the end.</p>
<p>If you find yourself making connections from a wide variety of things to one certain subject, or you just think about that subject whenever you can, it's probably your passion.</p>
<p>For example, I used to want to be a doctor so bad I could taste it. Then, one day I realized that, every time I thought of biology, my mind couldn't focus and would wander off to German history. And when I tried to speak French, I'd speak a garbled French-German mutilation of language. So, uh, I think i figured out my passion by realizing that my other "passions" were just passing phases.</p>
<p>It's never too late to get into performing arts. Just realize that if you find someone who really knows what they're doing, it's HARD WORK and you need to take it seriously. All performers are connected and if you flake or are immature, word will get around fast and soon no one will give you work.</p>