Reading a book today about a very specific area of wildlife conservation, with contributions from a wide variety of incredibly knowledgeable professors, scientists and conservationists of all ages and backgrounds. These are people who live, eat and breathe their work. It consumes them to the extent that most of their friends and social circle consist of people who work in the same field or live a similar way of life. They all appear to be very happy about it. They don't begrudge the investment it requires of them, and you get the sense that there simply isn't anything else they could imagine doing with their lives that would feel as rewarding.
These are people with friends, spouses and children. Their personal relationships are obviously very important to them, but it is their work/passion/hobby that gives their lives meaning and causes them to wake each day eager to continue working on a new project, experiment or paper.
I know plenty of other people who have a similar appetite for their relevant professional industries. I also know people who feel pretty indifferent about their jobs, but who spend every minute of their free time learning how to do their chosen sport or hobby to a professional level, becoming to most amazing chefs making incredibly intricate meals, or who constantly have a trip booked somewhere to explore a different part of the world.
All of these people appear to have a genuine appetite or zest for life.
Then there's me, who doesn't feel especially strongly about anything in life. My job is fine, but if I won the lottery I'd quit immediately. I like to read a bit and sometimes I might go for a run, but these are all things I do because I feel I should. I've tried learning musical instruments, cooking, playing sports, taking up singing etc and they're all just...fine... Nothing really sticks. I have no areas of expertise, nothing I'm really good at, and nothing that I desperately want to be better at. There's nothing I'm excited for when I wake up in the morning or when I finish work. I just feel pretty meh about everything.
Tell me, if you're one of these lucky people who have a genuine passion for something, what does it feel like and how does it affect your life?
Was anyone once like me, but then they found their calling late in life?