Having got into coding recently there have certainly been some surprises for me.

Some of it had stemmed from how the code works Vs how I expected it to work. Some things seem counterintuitive until I dive and delve further into the why as well as the what and then it makes sense.

One of the surprises was the community and how friendly, helpful and supportive they are. I have always heard great things about coding communities but to see it and be on the receiving end has been different. I really see now how much of this is people's passion and it's so refreshing to see how excited people are to see others moving into their industry.

My biggest surprise though was how much I want to code!

Now I want to code for a living, I never saw it as a hobby or general past time. It for me was a way to make a living doing something I enjoyed. I always saw people who lived, breathed and slept code. The kind who do it for work, have personal projects on the go, spend time helping others and contribute to open source works too. I always admired those people but I always thought "these are people that live to work" and I am someone who "works to live".

How wrong I was!

The more I code, the more I want to code. I find myself becoming more and more passionate about it the more I learn and the more I write.

Just this week I almost cancelled two sets of plans because I just wanted to code or I was in the zone and didn't want to stop. Thankfully the voice in my head reminded me about balance in life so I closed the laptop and socialised like a good boy.

What I'm getting at is;

• I have discovered that you really can make a living out of something you love.
• I now know how wonderful it is to be part of a community.
• It's a great to have something to feel so passionate about.

I just can't wait to get myself up to speed and contribute to some projects myself.