Why do you do it!?

In late February, I met with a VERY talented artist. We talked for hours and I posed the question, how long have you been painting and why do you have so many of your paintings? Are you not selling them? I had so many questions but refrained from asking them all because I was just so amazed by this person and their work. (Sidebar, I'm not easily amazed lol so this was awesome)
The response was interesting to say the least. This particular artist paints not to sell but for pure enjoyment. So the question was posed to me, how I started and why.
I've always been interested in art but the confidence was there at first. I doubted myself and felt like I didn't have the creativity within me to accomplish anything.
The day I painted "My Africa", my world changed. The concept I feel is pretty awesome and many enjoy this painting. You can tell I thought outside of the box, and the colors were nice and vibrant. I was very pleased with the results. But yet, I still did not focus on my art. It was a step close but not close enough.
As mentioned, I didn't believe in myself. But later I learned that you have to first believe in yourself before anyone else. Even then, if no one else believes in you, YOU believe in YOU and know that you can.