What kills our passion?

I have a friend, I really do, who has one of the most boring, exhausting, passion-killing habits I’ve ever seen. This friend packs his lunch every day. No, that’s not the USDPK part of all this. He packs his lunch one Sunday night for the week, and all the sandwiches are the same. He has Devon (yuck) with tomato sauce. Each. Unique. Day.

Oh Lord. I mean, I hate Devon, especially the old Devon party favorite wrapped around cold mashed potatoes (oh yeah, that was 70s luxury). But that’s not the main point either. It’s the fact that his lunch is so, well, boring.

I hate to see what he is like for the rest of his life. How is the day? How is your entertainment? How is he in bed? Well, maybe I don’t want to know that last one. I just don’t understand how someone can be like this. How can someone be so repetitive? How can someone be so repetitive?

You see, it’s the boring, mundane, repetitive things in life that kill passion. How can we be expected to love or hate if we are bored with the world? We see the same people every day, do the same things, eat the same food, and get bored.

You think about the first time you meet someone new that you like, really like. You feel alive, your heart is racing, you want to be with them, do new things together and go to new places. It’s great. That new love makes you live again.

But after a couple of years, you get tired of the same old jokes, the snoring, the nose picking, the butt scratching and all the bad clothes. Work, debt and the demands of children prevent you from being inventive. You fall into a rut, and before you know it, Romeo is gone and all that’s left is Homer Simpson.

Life gets so boring that as long as you stop turning off love, you can’t even care about the injustices in the world anymore. Who cares if Kev and Jules have a fight and someone stabilizes someone in the back. You don’t care about the Gulf and sick birds; you just want to know that you can still fill your car with liquefied dinosaurs.

The only thing you are passionate about is a small fruit with seeds that goes well with ice cream. And the main problem for most people is that they don’t even know that this has happened to their lives. They are so uninterested in what is going on in their lives; they cannot even say that they are drowning in sadness.

Think about this. When was the last time you went on vacation and escaped from the routine? When was the last time you went out to dinner somewhere different? When was the last time you went to a party and put all your keys in a bowl? It was the last time you did something new. And by new I don’t mean trading Devon for Empire Meat.

Break from the tremors of routine. I pull the chains of boredom. Choose a new set of keys. But for God’s sake, do something different. Take the opportunity, have a dance or find a new romance. But I know different.

You will be happy and you will live a better life.

terry shadwell

PS My keys have a pink bunny on them.