Passionate People Are Different

“Skills are cheap. Passion is priceless.” - Gary Vaynurchuk 

    I don’t know about you, but I’m to the point of the year where it’s easy to get into a rut. The freshness of the year has definitely worn off, there aren’t any long breaks for us until Thanksgiving, and life is getting exhausting. We’re all working hard and often times when we work hard just to get to bed and get to tomorrow day in and day out we lose something valuable: passion. 

    If you’re like me, passion is a word that you hear tossed around a lot. I’m going to try to spend some time giving this word a definition. Google’s dictionary defines passion as: “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something,” but that doesn’t really capture passion. 

    Passion is used a lot in the context of love. Love and especially at my age infatuation will drive people to do absolutely crazy things. You probably have stories. I certainly do, you’ve heard some of them, you’ll certainly hear more. I’ve written letters you wouldn’t believe, said things that I still can’t believe ever came out of my mouth, spent way more time doing my hair than any person ever should, and have taken risks just because of the possibility of success. And I know that I’m not alone. So then the question arises, why does love make us do crazy things? 

    Well, this could be a quote essay by itself, but let me suggest that the reason we exhibit such a passion when we are in love, and the reason we are willing to do crazy things is that our eyes are on the prize which is the man or woman that we love. When you love someone, really truly love someone, I believe there are very few things that one wouldn’t do. Love runs deep in the soul, it is a constant feeling and the result is a desire to act at all cost for the person that is the object of our affection. Passionate love doesn’t get bored because it is constantly thinking about that special someone. 

    So what is different about passionate people? Two things. Passionate people have a dream or a goal, and passionate people are constantly pursuing and keeping that goal or dream at the forefront of their mind in even the mundane tasks of daily life. When the rest of us are exhausted and have worked eight hours already and are ready for bed, passionate people remember why they put in the eight hours in the first place, and they aren’t done, they just keep going. Why? Their eyes are always on the prize. 

    Need some examples?

Teachers are PASSIONATE about the students they are teaching and therefore constantly work hard and happily despite pressure from states and often ridiculous and illogical expectations because they care about the students they teach. 

Civil rights leaders were PASSIONATE about equality, they had a dream for posterity to understand what it meant to be truly free, and consequently, did not consider their own lire as too great of a price to pay. 

Members of our fantastic Armed Forces are PASSIONATE about the country, and they are willing to go to battle to protect the freedoms we enjoy here, even when it means being away from their families for extended periods of time. 

    Life is busy. It’s easy to get into a rut. But life is way too short to go from one day to another and forget why we’re doing it. Everyone needs to have at least one thing that they are passionate about, things that they are living for. Every hobby doesn’t have to be a passion, but passion, a passion that doesn’t die when life is exhausting, has to exist even in the tasks that don’t seem to do anything buy exhaust us. 

    My own passions? 

Jesus Christ and glorifying him in everything I do because of the grace he has for me. 

Devoting myself to my amazing, supportive friends and family who mean so much to me.

Writing and creating a future for myself through writing.

Working hard academically to prepare myself for several possibilities as to what my future holds in terms of careers. 

    Other hobbies? Absolutely things I really like, but those are things that I remain passionate about and dreams that go with it. I think everyone needs to define some of those things and prioritize them in their own life or life can quickly become a rut. Whatever those things may be you have to have a reason to keep going, something to be passionate about, and it doesn’t have to be about you, but something or someone(s) that are worth living for and don’t ever forget it. This will be the motivation needed to live and breath daily and with purpose. Don’t ever forget what you are passionate about, and don’t be afraid to dream big dreams with that. History shows that people who dream big and have a lot of passion are hard to stop. God gives everyone talent. Talent is cheap. Passion is what is rare. Passionate people live with a purpose and passionate people will leave their mark.