The 12th contest was about your passion in life, how long you have pursued it, and how do you sustain yourself to enable this and stay committed to it over the years? There were some good entries and it was quite fun to read through them and select 6 winners. 

I’m a little late on 12th contest winner announcement and new contest announcement owing to travel and work. 

### Congrats to these Steemians who won Contest #12:

1. @chris.hackett (Please inform me your Steemit userid)- My passion in life was to become a dad, after 15 years of Doctors telling me that I never will be a dad. So my first wife left me while I was in the Army because I was found to be sterile. So Be gone woman and Ill just do me. In the back ground I always felt like less of a man. I saw family, friends and acquaintances all having children and here I am off in the corner pissed. Fast forward 10 years, My now wife knows that I cannot have kids and she is cool with that, but she too wants kids. 10 Tries with sperm donor @ $10,000 a pop, all come up empty...Empty thoughts of shit, what now. So I leave the Oil field and use my IRA cash to do IVF. We do all the procedures and all the tries to get to the point where we are good. Not enough eggs..DAMN it, well do the insert anyways...9 months later we have TWINS!!!!. So after 15 Years of wanting to be the best dad I can....Now I am, loving it all...and I will not fail at being a kick ass dad...I love them too much.

2. @rivercityguy - My biggest passion in life is sailing. I pursued my passion for more than 20 years. To be honest, I sailed, but that wasn't enough, I was not sailing professionally. My past, my present and my future is the sea; deep horizon behind the helm, and overwhelming feeling of salty air while I catch the course. Most people told me all kinds of stories about sailors, but I refused to listen. If I listened, just a tiny bit I wouldn't be where I am today. It costed me much, but not in a financial manor; I was not able to see my family (6+ months long contracts thousands of miles away from home). So with the scar of not seeing my child in earliest age I sail the seas of joy,and tear in my eyes, filled with rage, thinking, sea one day, will take me away.

3. @goel.tarun - I was 19 years old when I met an accident, 3 fractures, backbone compression and a minor head injury. I had just cleared SSB and was on my way to join the Indian Army to become an Officer. Bed ridden for 100 days, I realized how life was sometimes not in our control. 12 years later, I’ve practically done everything that I had been advised not to do. Not because I am adamant but because I wanted to see my country. I’ve done a 200km cycle ride in the mountains all by myself. I’ve trekked to over 50 mountain passes and explored numerous lakes that were hitherto unknown. I wanted to build a credible information house for Indian trekkers and I can proudly say that my blog/website has managed to do that over last 5 years. I intend to do this full-time and I’m sure I will be there. 

4. @jajdgenius - My passion is to write articles that people can learn from and become better persons while at the same time informing, educating and entertaining them about issues that are happening around them and how it affects them. I have been pursuing this passion for the last 8 years and I have been sustaining the passion with my blog site www.gossipified.com as people have been encouraging me never to give up and I have also been able to make some money in the process. My main reason for staying committed is the love and affection that people have shown me in the past, which is more than money to me.

5. @yogachallenge @firepower I’m an IT professional and I am a passionate coder but I’m more passionate about acting. Most people’s passions just don’t fit well with the world of work. So due to personal issues I can’t quit my job and enter into acting world. So, I chose to have it online. I own a You tube page, make dubsmashes and post it over my page which has got good views. I am following it from past 4.5 years and I have got good following. It was not very difficult just slight balancing from usual schedule is what kept me going. I have made monthly targets and keep on following it no matter in all cases. This may not sound half as exciting as “following your passion,” but it’s the best way to develop deep. I decided to jump into making short stories and films. And try my hand there.

6. @blessing2002 - My greatest passion is obviously Running. It's the only thing that I look forward to in my day and the only thing that gives me a sense of purpose in life! Like many others, after work, I am extremely tired. I just want to retire for the day. But then my eyes auto-focus on my running gear. It seems as if they are in sync with my mind and I just think to myself - "Yup, just a good ol' cup of coffee and I shall hit the road". The moment I wear my running gear, I just feel extremely enthusiastic, energetic, exuberant. In short - I feel like I am finally alive! I've been doing this for 10 years now, and am loving it. For a long time, I avoided exercise. I absolutely hated it and never understood how people could just keep on running! I always wondered - How the hell did they build their stamina to that extent? Only after I started running, I undoubtedly achieved liberation. I realized that stamina only forms a small quotient. It has more to do with discipline, desire, determination, but more importantly - the love and passion for it. These (discipline, desire, and determination) have been the pillars behind my commitment to my passion -


<center>https://i.imgur.com/2uBRbed.jpg</center>

## Contest #13

Let's get on with the 13th contest and it’s quite simple. I'm sure many of you will participate in this. We’ll run this in the official contest channel on Steemit.Chat

#### Tell us about yourself!

1. 1 Entry per person. 
2. Answer this Question: What is the biggest setback that you’ve faced in your professional career and how did you deal with it? 
3. Maximum word count cap of 150 words.
4. Post a single comment in [**steemitchat-contest**](https://steemit.chat/channel/steemitchat-contest) channel with your entry.
2. You have until the next Monday till this post pays out or my announcement in the channel closing the contest (whichever is earlier).
3. There will be 6 winners. I will choose 6 best responses. Winners will get an equal split of the SBDs from this post.
4. Multiple entries will lead to disqualification so kindly post a single comment in the chatroom!
7. Contest will take place in  [**steemitchat-contest**](https://steemit.chat/channel/steemitchat-contest) channel on Steemit.Chat.

You are also welcome to drop more Steemit.Chat contest ideas in this post or in the contest channel and you may get some SBDs if your idea gets selected for a future contest. 

**Let contest #13 begin!** 


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**If you like my work kindly resteem it to your friends. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:**
1. [My Past Year On Steemit—Quick Recap of 2017!](https://steemit.com/steemit/@firepower/my-past-year-on-steemit-quick-recap-of-2017) 
2. [4 Tips For Steemit Account Recovery & Wallet Security!](https://steemit.com/steemit/@firepower/4-tips-for-steemit-account-recovery-and-wallet-security)
3. [Let's Talk—Why Are You Not Buying and Powering Up Steem?](https://steemit.com/steem/@firepower/let-s-talk-why-are-you-not-buying-and-powering-up-steem)


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