PASSION, PURPOSE AND PLEASURE

Three stages or phases as a way of being and doing and growing.

First, exploring and discovering what we care about most and why…. Passion

Second, putting that passion into intentional design and actions, what some might call a value proposition as it includes vision, mission and values…Purpose

1 – Who are you going to serve?

2-   What needs or expectations do they have that you will meet and exceed?

3-   What will it cost and will it be acceptable and profitable?

Third, experiencing significant returns on the investment of time, energy, resources and talent, including human capital… Pleasure

When we regard these three stages as an ongoing process, then yes, we will always be a work in progress, an organic and dynamic process of continuous growth and change, a characteristic of the principals themselves.  This is why it’s important to see and understand how we are learning, growing and changing, as well as understanding and appreciating our why.   How and why flow back and forth in a constant interchange with one another.

If I were to review my life and work, more or less in thirds, I believe the first 25 years were invested in focusing on and exploring, discovering and nurturing the first phase, passion. It was also important, at the same time to understand my purpose and enjoy some pleasure.  This was the period of being in school, learning and growing, K-19.  That is K-12, plus 4 years as an undergraduate and 3 years in graduate school.

The second phase of 25-45 years featured the purpose of the work in serving others; and the past 25 years in the third phase, deriving pleasure from the investments while keeping the first two phases of passion and purpose active and alive by feeding and nurturing them along the way.   All three were present simultaneously with a primary emphasis and understanding focused on one of the three at any given moment in time.  I confess to wondering about the pleasure part while enduring 3 more years of studies in my second graduate school experience culminating in a Ph.D. in 1973.  The number of years is not important as those vary with each of us.  What is important is our why and how over time.

There is an exception to all of this passion, purpose and pleasure and it is this.  Someone said recently that we are always a work in progress and I responded by saying, “until we aren’t.”That has to do with regression, not progression and moving forward.  We are always moving forward in time but toward the end of life, there is often a decline in physical and mental abilities to such an extent that one cannot call it progression, which is moving gradually toward an advanced state. The most severe experiences mentally are diseases such as Alzheimers and dementia, two different things and physically, the inability to be mobile without serious support and assistance.

Why and how we plan to accommodate the inevitable changes that come along late in life may be a reflection of these three stages – what we care about (passion), what our plans and designs are (purpose) and the benefits to the extent possible. (pleasure). What we know for sure is that what matters most is the quality of life in the final stages. This is important for children who may be dealing with aging parents and important for the aging parents to accommodate to the extent they can.  We do what we can, while we can with what we have where we are.