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One of my words for 2008 is Passion and I sent a portion of Saturday simply indulging in a passion of mine: a lust for vintage airplanes. I went to a museum near my home that housed a B17 (Flying Fortress)….lovingly restored to flying condition rather than “static” as most planes in museums tend to be.

I spent a fair amount of time talking to some of the men there that have worked on the plane….bringing a plane built in 1944 to a point where it can do what it is supposed to do - and that is fly in the air instead of sitting on the ground. Their love for this classic plane and all of the hard work put into the restoration was truly humbling and inspiring. Both of them were in their late 60s (or early 70s) and the fire in their eyes and the pure joy they expressed over this beautiful plane was a true blessing to witness.

When is the last time that you have been in the company of someone who is truly passionate about….anything? It’s intoxicating….

I am on the road so much of the time….and during the inevitable time when I am killing time….I truly enjoy talking to people as I wait for a plane or have a drink at the hotel bar. People are game to talk about their businesses or the political climate….but it is rare for there to be a zest behind their words. Sometimes, I think we each have a passion about a subject but get so involved in our day-to-day lives that the things we love fall by the wayside. The person talking about their business at the hotel bar is living to work rather than working to live. I see them all the time and it comes across in their overall crankiness to life.

I don’t want to be one of those people who complain about the weather and whine about the things I never got to do in my life….. I don’t want to reach my 70’s and be angry at life and the world around me - I want to greet the day with joy and happiness….enjoy my cup of coffee and read through pages of books written by the amazing women I have interacted with …..and skim through the paragraphs I myself wrote twenty-years before…..

I want to be like the guys working on the B17….

Posted by Deb in Lifestyle |

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.