A lot of people talk about passion as though it’s THE single most important thing in order to be successful or happy in this world.
Well you want to know a little something?
The dirty little truth that no one wants you to know or believe.
Passion is not the be all and end all.
You see, this ‘passion’, it’s a beautiful yet dirty business.
Passion is an easy ‘sell’. I’d go far as to say, it’s even been exploited. It’s easy to sell something when you feel compelled by it and when it rides off human emotions.
Passion is a bit of a paradox. Sure, it’s what drives us. Without it, we wouldn’t have the beauty that makes up self expression. Without passion, we wouldn’t have raging love, wild emotions and magnificent art. Passion is, after all, the driving force behind change and human revolutions.
But the word in itself is so elusive.
You know it’s there but it can be hard to understand, even more difficult to cultivate and at times, even unrealistic.
How many times have you tried to understand why you love to doing something and yet fail to bring that something to fruition? Or you think you do what you do because you have a passion for it, when really, your passion actually lies elsewhere and so you continue living on with an empty chasm in your heart because you fail to truly understand what makes you tick.
A thought that comes to mind is the fresh, beady-eyed, fidgety college grad attempting to impress in a job interview expressing his or her passion for customer service or sales or *insert some other heinous job skill*. It’s a cringe-worthy thought, right? I know because I’ve been that fresh, beady-eyed, fidgety college grad.
Do you think someone is going to hire you simply because you express a passion for customer service (and taking the slight chance you are lying through your gritty, little teeth?) No, they’re going to hire you because you’ve shown exceptional experience in the field for the last 5 years.
In itself, passion is not enough.
Ask any married couple (beyond the honeymoon phase) what keeps them together. The lairs in the circle will implore it’s their undying passion for each other. The other’s in the circle will earnestly admit to the hard work and determination required of them to ensure that their love can live on.
Passion is not a free pass to an easy life.
It merely amplifies the emotions ones feels towards a certain someone or something. This is not always an uplifting experience either. When you feel so driven by passion, you are often blinded by irrational thinking. It can be painful; tearing up your heart; tormenting you in your sleep; or ripping open old wounds. Especially when you can’t seem to grasp what to do with it.
It can even turn sour as you adopt an ‘at all cost’ attitude. Unfortunately, this can be detrimental to your health, relationships and sanity. That nasty bite will linger for a long while too and those around you can’t help but be affected. Suddenly you’ve become the crazy cat lady who’s starved out her friendships, paints pictures of her rotting fruit bowl using a brush between her toes because you’ve failed to understand what to do with your passion.
The power is in how you leverage your passion.
Do you allow it to eat away at you from the inside out, festering with impatience and narrow minded thinking or do you use it to express your desire to explore and do good in this world and broaden your thinking? Do you allow it to wedge a gap between you and your peers or to bolster and inspire a movement for positive change around you? Do you allow it to cloud your judgement or use it to clarify your intentions?
Whether you have a passion for people, a passion for food, a passion for the environment or health or education, your passion is what connects you with others and brings like-minded individuals together to reach a common goal. The world will support you in these endeavours if you put them out there. The world will support you when you ACT ON YOUR PASSIONS.
The real beauty is found in action –> in doing something with this passion.
Without action, passion is merely a noun; an emotive description. Turn it into a verb.
“Passion exists to inspire you towards action.”
So make 2014 the year for action.
Make it happen. Live out your passion. Don’t let that passion you have been gifted with to simply shrivel up and wither away. Do something with it. Allow it to transform you. Ignoring your passions is like allowing a perfectly good piece of hand-crafted, organic, fair-trade dark chocolate melt away. No people. That is NOT okay.
ACT ON IT.
I have dwelled on the hope of being in a position to actually take action on my passions for some time.
It just so happens that the stepping stones to enable me to do so are slowly falling into place. The gradual and careful laying of each stone has been a long and drawn out process. Some other rash decisions are getting me over the line.
So in 2014, in less than 3 weeks time, I’m shoving whatever I can fit into my backpack and hitting the road. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this, but it is the first time I’ve taken such a giant leap of faith into what is an unknown future. It’s bloody scary but you know what, it’s even more freaking exciting. I don’t know for how long or what exactly awaits me, but I know there’s a growing list of things I want to experience. I want to volunteer on organic farms and Permaculture projects, complete my Permaculture Design Certificate, meet like-minded people living out their dreams, be graced by the presence of change-makers, and write, write, WRITE.
I want to share this story with you. I want you to have a front row seat to what is going to be a spectacular year. I want to learn and grow as a human being and a blogger. I want to give back more to this world than what I simply take. I want to connect more with the people who are so generous to give me their time in reading these words. I want to form real communities and not have our geography stabbing a wedge down the middle of our planet and dividing us.
I want for us to present as a united front; reaching and striving for a better world for ourselves and for those yet to come. I want to give you a big fat HUG darn it!
I’ll be starting my year in the US of A but heading on down to Central and South America. Connect with me if you feel compelled. At the very least, stay tuned to hear about what I learn on the road and let me know if there’s anything I can do for you!
My aim is to be more active in sending out weekly updates via my email newsletters, so if you want to keep in touch, be sure to sign up below!
A blessed 2014 to you!
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