Steven Lake brings us some inspired thoughts about the importance of passion in life and love.
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Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Do you live with passion? I’m being serious. Do you live with passion? It’s a rather daunting question, isn’t it? I have my moments, but do I live my life from a place of passion; a place where passion infuses my very being on a moment by moment basis and carries me through my daily tasks? Well that just sounds too absurd and my mind squawks, “You will burn out if you live like that.”
We all have images of the tortured artists who mutilate themselves or commit suicide – the dark side of passion. But is that really passion gone wild or a person with major problems who is passionate?
When I think of positive role models of passion, names like Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa, come to mind. Passion is not reserved for the artist. The healer, the politician, the entrepreneur, the student, the janitor – anyone – can live a life of passion.
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Betty Smith (1896-1972, novelist,) said that we should, “Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.” I love that last part, having your time filled with glory.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875, author and clergyman ) felt that, “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” Are you passionate and enthusiastic about your life and relationship?
Have we become passionless couch potatoes, happy so long as we have our creature comforts to dull that niggling feeling of not living a life of passion? Are we measuring ourselves by our bank account and toys, or by our hearts and desires?
This is not a small issue. Balzac was unequivocal when he said. “All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art – would be ineffectual.” How effective are you at bringing passion into your life?
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If you feel that something is missing, maybe it is passion. When you are inspired your experience of the world and yourself changes. You become infused with energy. Life flows through you. Time disappears as you work on your allotted task.
To blaze with a fire that can never be extinguished, you have to identify your passions.
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Most of us have experienced this whether playing sports, knitting a sweater, creating a computer program, or watching children play. We are fully in the experience. Concentration is total. The mind stops. The questions cease. The feelings can range from calm to ecstasy, but always a feeling of oneness with the work or event.
To blaze with a fire that can never be extinguished, you have to identify your passions. As children we knew our loves. They were playing games with our friends, reading books, making model airplanes. We knew and we tried to do what we loved as much as possible, often to the consternation of our parents. But somewhere along the line we were told, or we believed, that our passions were childlike, that we had to grow-up and give up what made us happy. So we went to work. How many of us actually thought, “What job would give me the most joy in life” and then went out and pursued it?
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The good news is that it is never too late. If you sense that your life or relationship is not as passionate as you would like, there are steps you can take to make a change.
First, identify specifically in what areas you want more passion. Then, write a list of activities that you love doing in these areas. Once you have your list, pick out one area and one item, and do it. If successful, rinse and repeat.
To be passionate is to become a human soul on fire and your life will burn bright.
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Remember, passion is a feeling. If it has been many years since you did something that felt incredible – start slowly. You don’t want to freak out yourself or your partner. Fifty-five year old Harry with forty extra pounds deciding that he wants to recapture his passion for running enters a marathon after two days of training is in big trouble. Just because you are passionate does not mean you have to give up your reason.
However, putting passion back into your life will change everything. It might mean a new career. It might mean moving to the city, or to the country. It might mean putting passion back into your relationship. It will definitely mean taking charge of your life. No more excuses for a so-so life.
To be passionate is to become a human soul on fire and your life will burn bright. And zombies are afraid of fire.
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Photo: CanstockPhoto