SO, as I was talking about in the last article. Passion is next level. It is something that is an undying and burning fire that lights you up. Something you fall asleep thinking about and wake up living for. Whats the downside?? Let's talk.As I said before looking at someone who is so passionate about a subject, like Alex (we're on a first name basis now), it is very apparent. You see it in the way that someone speaks and their actions reflect it. This is why when his girlfriend asked if he would bring her into the "equation" when he would do his big climbs (free solos), his quick response was no... How could he? To give something up that he has worked on for so long, to sacrifice such a piece of himself to make room for her? I equate it to this. A video I've seen in the past and one a friend shared with me (thanks Nick) It is our lives, broken down to filling up a jar (again warning, heard this somewhere else, here is my rendition) ((wow, that was choppy))A teacher takes a jar and places it on a table. He fills it up with some ping pong balls and asks the class is the jar full? They respond yes... He then pulls out some beads and pours them into the jar and asks the class again, is the jar full now? They then respond, yes again. He then pulls out some sand and begins to fill the jar a third time. After this he asks one more time, is it full? Of course the class says yes! He then lastly pulls out a jar of water and begins to pour. The jar then becomes full. The point of all this being that we all have things that fill our jar (our life). Whether its hobbies, people, work, travel, etc... but we only have one jar to fill up.The point I'm trying to make is this. That when we fill our jar with these things eventually we run out of room. When we begin to pour the water into our jar, we see that it fills in all the cracks, we see that the jar can no longer take anymore in without overflowing. So, when we see someone who's jar is full like Alex and hear him say he won't take her intro consideration we have to realize that what he is saying is he isn't ready to make that sacrifice. In order for him to put her in is "jar" he needs to remove something. He needs to eliminate a piece of his life, he has to make a sacrifice.What does that exactly mean though? To sacrifice? (google search time, duh) After rifling through some animal sacrificing definitions I found this, "give up (something valued) for the sake of other considerations." The thing that sticks out me to is the last part, the sake of other considerations. You see things in life don't always come easy. Alex says, "that nothing good came from being happy and cozy", and I agree. Here is the thing, to let someone in, to open your jar back up to let a piece of you go is to replace it with something else/other considerations. With that something else comes the unknown, with that something else comes fear. So, this is the dilemma we face.We can chase our passions, we can change what is in our jar. We can fill it all up with one thing. We can surround ourselves with like minded people, chasing the same goals, chasing the same dreams. We can do all of this, but at what cost? When you look back at your life you're going to have to ask yourself, did you do what you set out to do? Did you find; success, happiness, fulfillment, enjoyment, love? Look at your jar. Is it in balance? Is it in the right mix of what you want to fill it with? Is it full of one thing? What is the sacrifice you're going to make to bring something else in? Or even more intimidating (to me) to bring someONE else in?I try to live my life in a balance, seeking and chasing the things that get me excited to wake up in the morning. I don't know if i'm ready to commit and go all in on one thing like Alex (how many times will he say Alex?)  has with climbing, or if I ever will just be able to do one thing/hobby. I know that as I continue to grow and travel I seek those opportunities that allow me to start to find out more about myself and to show me where I can improve. I also know that someday I am going to have to risk it all, to give something else up, to take something out of my jar... To make that sacrifice.On purpose,Matt"For what profit is it to a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul in the process?"