Passion is a word that gets a lot of bad press. A word that is often misunderstood. To some, the word passion brings back memories of illicit desires at drive-in movies with a high school flame. To others it evokes images of a murder committed in a fit of rage. It is true that passion is behind almost every sin.
But, passion is morally neutral. It is simply a strong feeling or deep longing for something. In its essence, passion is the fuel that ignites the fires of our meaningfulness, the force that drives the soul, the burden that compels us to action. Passion is a clearly defined reason for living. It moves ordinary people beyond ordinary human activities. It causes people to rise to the top of business, sports, academia, science, and politics. Some of these people explode like a Molotov cocktail to inflame a whole generation. Others burn quietly in the furnaces of everyday life, unknown to all but their immediate acquaintances—yet making a difference in their world.
Ferdinad Fock was right when he stated, “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
Passion is not something we work up, but something within our being. It’s the ability to feel so strongly about something that it causes us to move toward the object of desire. Call it what you want—urge, burden, compulsion, force—passion is the birthplace of a dream, the trailhead of a new path.
Passion engages us emotionally. When we are passionate about something it grips our heart. We are emotionally connected. We get excited about it. We show great feeling concerning it.
Case in point: football. A lot of people are passionate about football. It grips their hearts. When their team wins great joy is expressed, but when their team loses great sadness envelopes them.
When the heart is engaged, the mind is consumed. Our passions arouse intense feelings.
Passion incites us to action. Passionate people translate their devotion into action. They discover, as we must, that a passion unchanneled soon dissipates. They know that passion without action is just a dream. Action without passion is drudgery. But passion with action is sheer delight. Kahlil Gibran described work as “love made visible.” If you love what you do, you work with passion.
Passionate people are people of action. They carry with them a fervent desire to do something that will make a difference. They know that passion can propel them for long distances while lesser people—people who sometimes have greater talent—will fall by the wayside.
The spark that ignites the fuel of our lives was meant to thrust us into action.
We would do well to look deep within our souls to discover what cause or dream that would compel us to action. And, then, do it.
