Irish Passions

I know that it makes no sense to people around me, but when I am determined to become better at anything, it becomes an obsession. This doesn't mean that I will become better, it means I just really,really,want to become better. It means it occupies a place that is where I store most of my passion.
Like many things, I have to work twice as hard to become half as good, and poker is no exception. What often happens is that there will come a burn out period, when I attempting to become better at any given passion, and that is where I am now.
I have a friend who I actually trained, and she is now a chef. We have been great friends for years now. She often has said she wants to do something different, but because she is so good at what she does, everyone around her cannot imagine her not delighting the world with culinary cuisine. She, like myself worked hard at getting to where she is, and yet, it was not her chosen passion. I worked with horses, and that was my passion. I slept, ate, and breathed horses. I would say that horses were my life. Then I had an accident...a fall from a rodeo horse and fractured my back and neck..........so that was the end of that for awhile....so being me, I had to learn something. I chose web design. I had never even taken an art class, but always had a fondness for design...more precise...I had a fondness for building things.
I like architecture alot, and I bet it would not even make the bottom of my list of loves in life, for those who know me best....yet it is truly the oldest of my passions.
Fast forward to today. I learned poker the old style way. I liked it, and I still do despite the occasional moments of nostalgia...You know the that feeling, I am sure.
I noticed that since the wsop is now open for registration, I am now in many tournaments, and events to help me get to Vegas. I had planned on next year, but like anything, always will take a gamble if I have to........so I find myself playing in sort of a mindless manner. It is not that I do not want it... It is that
I made the mistake of sharing this thought with others...and myself of course.
Now that I made it a goal, I know no other way than to work as hard as possible to achieve that goal.
I wonder how many of you get to some point, early on...or later on...and just have to do something different.......How do you continue trying to complete a goal, yet taking a mind break?
I have tried everything I can think of and still have this lack of enthusiasm going...which is not like me when I have a passion going........Some passions last a lifetime...some become my life...and some get stored back in that space reserved only for the passions that occupied a place in my heart for a time...and yet are too special to let go of....Whatever shall I do?
Happy St Pats to all my Irish family and friends!!!!

I have no words today...this caught my attention though lol!

50 Years of Progress:
Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack.
1956 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.
2006 - School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
******
Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1956 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.
2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.
******
Scenario: Little Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1956 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.
2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.
******
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car and his Dad gives him a whipping.
1956 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2006 - Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy's mother has affair with psychologist.
******
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school.
1956 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.
******
Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant.
1956 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.
2006 - Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told to be more careful next time.
******
Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1956: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006: Pedro's cause is taken up by ultra-liberals. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.
******
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1956 - Ants die.
2006 - ATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated. Johnny's Dad placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
******
Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary, who hugs Johnny to comfort him.
1956 - In a very short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2006 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator, is charged and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.