I must apologize for myself to those who look to this website for photos, news, excitement or inspiration. I fear that the following does not provide any of the aforementioned.
I was speaking to Stephen of Alpinestars at PRI when he said something that struck a chord within me. He said that he believes it is difficult to make a career out of the thing you’re most passionate about. All of the things you experience by being behind the scenes can often cause you to lose interest or even grow a distaste for it. Instead, it could be more prudent to have some amount of interest in what you do, but not so much that the politics or negative attributes cause friction and, ultimately, a divide between yourself and your passion.
Truth be told, some part of me had been thinking that before he said it aloud, but I didn’t want to admit to myself that I agreed. I had always been a firm believer that you should be immensely passionate about what you do as a career. Not only because you’re better at something when you’re interested in it, but also because you spend a significant portion of your life doing it. So, to be unhappy with it would imply that a good amount of your life was being spent unhappy. It was because of my belief in this notion that I pursued a career in this industry. It was because of my love for cars, but I’ll be honest and admit that it’s taken it’s toll upon me.
The truth is that I cannot help but contemplate what Stephen said to me that day. I envy those who can make a career out of what they’re passionate about, but perhaps it’s only the truly lucky that succeed in doing so. There are always aspects to things you may not like. To think otherwise would be naive. And I suppose that there are those who can look past undesired elements of working within their passion, but there also exist those who simply cannot. In the end, I’m left with more questions than answers. What I do know is that deep within me I still have a passion for cars, racing and true motorsports. What I do not, is how that fits into my career choice.
Stephen left me that day with a quote which he said was unrelated, but strangely made a lot of sense. I leave you all with the quote as well, for this shall be my last post of 2007 and beyond. “There is always someone that doesn’t want to be with the most beautiful girl in the world, and it’s the guy married to her.”