Dear Miranam,

This exchange has been very fruitful for me too. After I read your last post, I was relooking at how automatic patterns tend to recur in my life. Specific situations and behaviors tend to elicit specific lines of thought. With mindfulness, I am aware of what happens and with conscious effort it is possible to change the line of thought. But as you said it is hardwork and difficult but the effort is totally worth it. I used to think that there should be an ease to it if it is “natural” but if “natural” or default mode is not leading to what I want then effort even if it is difficult is totally worth it when it leads to betterment.

I liked the way you defined passion and expectation. Passion – a strong emotional investment into something which has an outcome. Expectation – a desire for an outcome.

And yes I believe when the outcome or goal is something that you keep in the realm of our own control, then passion can be kept alive on an ongoing basis. Joy and fulfillment can be felt as and when it is achieved; even after achieving it you create more achievable outcomes and the joy should grow.