Passion - Are passion and joy part of your everyday work life?

My goal on this long summer day was to visit a forgotten village in the Strandzha Mountains in Bulgaria. I traveled all night by train from Sofia to Burgas, and then about four hours by bus to the small village to visit the family who had sent a letter to my newspaper. The family - a man, a woman, and two children - had moved from a big city and joined the program for the re-urbanization of villages. There were many abandoned houses in the villages as people were moving to the cities. Agriculture was reaching its limits. Even the always optimistic socialist government in the 1980s realized that they needed to do something to support their own agriculture. Velko and Rada's family had moved because of the climate. One of their children had asthma, and they followed the doctors' recommendation. They joined the program for the Strandzha Mountains and left. The mechanical engineer had become a farmer and was already looking forward to his first successes in his new profession. Now, in the early hours of the morning, he wanted to show me the harvest with great enthusiasm. The field was large, and we stood at the edge when a large machine approached us. The dust around the machine eventually became transparent, and I could see a tractor. The tractor was getting closer to us. It seemed to me that no one was sitting in it. I rubbed my eyes with my hand and tried again to recognize the driver. In vain! I looked at Velko, surprised and shocked! It was only at a distance of two meters that I saw a small head: nine-year-old Victor was driving the tractor early on this wonderful morning. Joy of life or passion - I wonder today when I think of these two people. There was an age difference of just over 20 years between the two, but the looks of father and son resembled each other. Connected by a feeling, driven by the same passion to create something and move forward... But what exactly turns us ordinary people into such bundles of energy? The joy of life awakens courage, and strength empowers our will so that we don't notice that the workday is ending and it's time to rest. In this case, are we "workhorses" or "workaholics" who don't appreciate life and lose something day by day in this senseless competition with ourselves? No! We are not, as long as we carry the sun in our hearts and bid farewell to the workday with a smile even after fatigue sets in. We are people who simply love to develop something for ourselves and others, to build and leave traces. The joy in this process is proof that the work we do is not an automated routine, but a creative act that combines our knowledge with passion. This passion consists of joy, curiosity, and the desire to continue discovering ourselves and passing on this joy. The joy of our lives.