This week I had the pleasure to watch two individuals participate in something they love. My brother and his friend Kaleb flew out to Utah on Wednesday for the purpose of fly fishing. While I know my brother actually came out to see me, the days were filled with an overloaded Prius C, streams, and a few trout here and there.

Fly fishing is not my passion. While it isn’t the thing that I enjoy most, I can see the appeal. Some of the same reasons why I love to run in the mountains, are the same as why they love fly fishing. Being on a stream with canyon walls on either side reminded me of some of the beautiful places I can see on foot while hiking or running.

I did more “fishing” over those few days than I had done for years. In actuality, I was really just hoping trains would come by the bridge I was under or watching them cast. Admiring their passion for fly fishing is part of a lesson I’ve learned over the past few years. What’s important is that you have something that you love and that you may seem to some as being obsessed with. Aside from being a “workaholic” or being obsessed with money, any passion deserves respect in my opinion. Getting excited about catching a small brown trout is the same as summiting that mountain or smiling ear to ear as a train rolls by overhead. While the events are different, the joy is the same.