I just turned 44 and I'm passionate as hell. Always have been. When the passion starts dying, I know its time to do something else.

I've been a nursery grower. I've been a produce grower. I've been a landscape contractor. I've been a laborer on a concrete crew. I've been a delivery driver (twice). I've been a surveyor. I've worked in road construction. I bet I've moved more large cactus than anyone in Arizona. I've moved the largest organ pipe cactus ever moved in Organ Pipe national park. I have been a cowboy on a large cattle ranch. (I wore tennis shoes to work and no one cared because I put out.. and then some). I worked processing samples in a research lab. I planted 10's of thousands of acres of forage/ rangeland grass. I have been a telemarketer. I've been an equipment operator. I worked at a 5 star resort taking care of pools. I built three barns. I planted thousands of trees with large crews. I worked on a grape farm one summer. I lived in the grape cooler. I did all this stuff before I was 40. Some I did for a short time, some I did for years. But I did it all well. I thought about it, dreamed about, loved what I was doing even when it was hard, tried to find better ways to do it, and above all... I did it. My dream as a child was to work at a doughnut shop, and I plan to not die without realizing that dream. (Maybe when I'm retirement age). Work is love and if it isn't for you... well that's a sad state of affairs. There is no low work, all productive work is noble. People who think otherwise are puffed up and deluded and frankly foolish.

I started programming about 4.5 years ago. Now I work as a web developer. And... for where I work, I'm the best by a long ways and I haven't even been there a year. I maintain some applications I have written for clients in my spare time and am currently working on a pretty large application tracking milk production for a dairy coop. I learned to speak Spanish. I taught myself Python. I taught myself HTML, CSS, JS and SQL. I know Linux. I know world history. I have an unused college degree. I took several graduate level statistics classes. I can tie many kinds of kinds of knots and braid a whip. I'm an expert tree pruner and a pretty good cook too. And not a half bad fisherman. And this is only a small part of what I can do and have done.

Do what you love, don't give a crap, find what is important and focus on it and resist nonsense at all costs. Tell them (nicely) to fuck off if they interrupt your production or are keeping you from doing/getting what you need to get by (food, sleep etc.). Usually, if you are worth it, they will slink away and let you continue your business. Leave when the excitement dies or its time to do something else. But most of all... always be passionate, always push yourself a little, push others around you a little, always live your work. That's my philosophy and I don't see it being any other way.

This guy has a crappy loser attitude. Remember... somewhere, someone is passionate or was at one time. That's how the pyramids got built. Be passionate or suffer hauling blocks on the end of a rope. That's the choice. Sorry for the long rant.. but people like the author drive me nuts.