The Most Important Attitude
What is passion? When many people hear the word passion, they associate it with sex. In this case, we are referring to its larger meaning. Passion is what life is all about. According to Devlin’s Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, a person with passion is fervid, ardent, intense, burning, excited! The same source defines the opposite of passion as: impassive, phlegmatic, and apathetic. As you compare the two, ask yourself, “How do I want to be? Fervid, intense, burning, and excited, or impassive, phlegmatic, and apathetic?”
Take a moment right now to think of someone who is extraordinarily successful at something. This can be a celebrity, or someone you know personally. Where their success lies doesn’t matter. They can be a highly successful entertainer, athlete, parent, spouse, teacher, businessperson, doctor, or whatever you choose. Whoever that person is you can be certain that she/he is passionate about whatever it is in which they are so successful.
Without passion, life is gray and dull. With passion, challenges are overcome and extraordinary experiences are yours. Almost everyone has heard the saying that the main difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people are willing to do, routinely, the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do. Sometimes that quality is called persistence. One of the main ingredients in persistence is passion.
It has been said that passion has magical qualities. It transforms otherwise boring and difficult tasks into enjoyable activities. It is what fuels the energy required for the sustained efforts that lead to success in everything. Every time we get an idea that sufficiently inspires and excites us, we are provided with sufficient energy to get started on the idea and to carry it out to fruition. We experience that energy as the feeling of enthusiasm. If we don’t harness and use that energy, it goes right by us like a passing breeze. Everyone knows that when a wind is captured by sails, it can pull a ship wherever the captain wants it to go. However, the same wind will simply pass over a ship whose sails are down and move along to one that is ready to move.
I had two friends who demonstrated the magical qualities of passion just mentioned. Both were dedicated Marathon runners, one a school principal, the other a physician. They were very passionate about running, and managed to work it into their busy schedules without fail. For each of them, a five or six mile run was a light to moderate workout. I often encountered them in the middle of twelve mile training runs, when doing my own much shorter routine. Both completed many Marathons, including the famous Boston Marathon, which is restricted to only those who can qualify. Their passion for running provided the fuel that powered them through all of the hours and hours of training. It also powered them through the actual marathons.
Both of those friends have other passions that have fueled their other success. My friend, the dermatologist, for example, told me that his interest in medicine came from events witnessed as a young person growing up in Egypt. He saw the suffering experienced by people with unsightly, and sometimes hideous looking skin disorders. Out of his combination of compassion and intellectual curiosity, grew his passion to study medicine to learn how to help. Imagine the difficulties facing an eighteen-year-old immigrant who came to the United States with only a suitcase, a dream, a limited knowledge of English and a total of $300. He said he had to support himself and find a way to pay for college and then for medical school. What else other than passion could fuel the energy and persistence needed to make that dream a reality?
My other friend is passionate about the education of children. That passion propelled him to put forth the effort to become a teacher. He then became one of the most respected school principals in his district. In addition, he taught college level classes for other teachers. He now holds a position in administration for a school district in Southern California.
What Are Your Passions?
Identifying your passions will help you clarify your life purpose and create a fulfilling and satisfying life. The more successful you are at creating a satisfying life, the more successful you will be at successfully dealing with the constant changes we all experience in life. It is also helpful to remember that even when your life is going well, the only way it can get even better is through change.
Take a moment and ask yourself these questions:
“How much of my time is spent involved in things that spark my passion?”
“How much of my precious life is spent just putting in time, trudging through tasks that rob me of excitement and diminish my energy and sense of joy?”
Using Imagination
Your imagination can help you find your passion. If properly used, your imagination can create the spark, nurture it and help it burst into flame. Your imagination is also a way in which you can discard the limits and constraints you have imposed upon yourself.
Your self-imposed limitations may have no relationship to your actual physical circumstances but they can bind you securely. Self-imposed restrictions can cause you to overlook real opportunities. For example, when the people of Europe believed the world was flat, most were careful not to venture very far from shore. Although there were a few who defied conventional belief, some Vikings for example, evidently sailed to North America, (possibly while highly intoxicated or desperate to find new people to plunder, or both) the overwhelming behavior of the time was to live as if the world was flat.
At the same time, the Pacific Islanders, who didn’t get the memo about the flat earth, were busy sailing their outrigger canoes all over the Pacific Island and populating islands as far apart as New Zealand to Hawaii, After Columbus demonstrated convincingly that there was no edge to fall over, Europeans sailed all over the world.
Obviously the earth didn’t get any rounder after 1492. Prior to 1492, however, behavior and opportunity was just as restricted as if the earth actually had been flat. The limiting belief, although inaccurate, over rode the physical reality.
Perhaps you know someone who denies themselves a more fulfilling life simply because of their limited ideas and beliefs about who they are. As a result of their beliefs, they limit the amount of Love, ,Joy, Enthusiasm, Satisfaction and Success in their life.
Visit this site often.In my other postings we will discuss exercises that can help you harness your imagination, discover you life purpose and create more Love, Joy, Enthusiasm, Satisfaction and Success in your life.
