Given I’ve had my coffee in the morning and wine in the evening, I’m quite the happy-go-lucky character. It takes a powerful event, one with a lasting impact, to grip my mood. Stoic, not quite; let’s just say I’m indifferent to most of the daily world, and I mean that in a positive sense. Too often, I believe, indifference is seen as a negative.

While I’m passionate about certain people and hobbies, those amount to only a few. Passion is overrated most of the time. What do I care about, truly? My family and friends, knowledge, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway and writing, both for this publication and in my other spare time ventures.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of having passion -- a deep, scrupulous interest -- in the facets that make up our society, shall we?

Let’s take care of the obvious first. Relationships. Ugh. Sometimes I feel as though I just don’t get it. Wait, no, I always feel as though I just don’t get it. Let’s be logical here. How many marriages now end in divorce? Forty percent, give or take? But that divorce figure isn’t what really deters me. Rather, it’s the sacrifice element. I want to do what I want to do. Giving that up sounds lousy. And don’t get me started on the financial aspect. From time to time, I hear the two lovely ladies sitting behind me utter the words “our money,” speaking of their and their husbands’ finances. I cringe just typing the words.

Of course, as my landlord told me last week, “I have commitment issues.”

Pros of relationships include a lifetime connection, someone with whom you can share the joys of life, yada, yada, yada…

On to friendships. Everyone needs lots of friends, right? Wrong. Everyone needs a few honest and reliable friends, sure. But the more friends, the more confusion and petty drama. Similar to relationships, people are constantly forced to sacrifice time out of their lives to do activities in which they have no interest on account of their friends. Life’s too short for such nonsense. If you get so wrapped up in friendships, committing emotional ties, you’ll fall short of understanding yourself.

I’m not knocking making strong, new friendships, just be cautious of how much energy you exert into these new bonds. They can get in the way of your potential and happiness.

Locale. Never become too enchanted with a particular city or location, as it can change at any moment, given someone walks into or out of your life, a natural disaster wrecks havoc on a home or neighborhood, or you get the ax from the powers that be.

I’ve got nothing on the pros end with this one. Sure, it’s great to be happy and content with wherever you reside, but I don’t see any benefits of being overly passionate about your immediate surroundings. Too much uncertainty there and, besides, there are thousands of great towns.

Career, work. I’m not going to touch on this one because I consider myself to be in the extremely fortunate minority that doesn’t see my daily duties as “work.” Factor in that my expenses are a tiny fraction of those of you with a mortgage, kids, substantial debt; and I just don’t feel comfortable commenting on the financial sacrifices people with families are forced to make.

Pros -- If you enjoy what you do, passion is the way to go. If you could care less, however, I advise you to look for other opportunities. Joyless clocking in is no way to go through life, my friend.

Sports teams. OK, this is too easy, given all the Gamecock and Clemson fans around. Really, guys, is the yearly heartbreak worth it? To my father, a lifelong Cleveland sports fan, are the ashes from the burnt LeBron jersey still out back?

Pros -- Being passionate about the 2008 World Champion Boston Celtics paid off with one of the happiest days of my life on June 17, 2008.

Now, a shrink would say this whimsical approach to life displays my guardedness and the aforementioned commitment issues, but, thus far, life’s been rather grand.

If you disagree with my words here, I don’t mind. I’m indifferent to your opinion of me.