subject: Don't Cheat Yourself – Live With Passion [print this page] Don't Cheat Yourself Live With Passion Don't Cheat Yourself Live With Passion
"At one time in our lives, we all had a vision for the quality of life that we desire and deserve. Yet, for many of us, those dreams have become so shrouded in the frustration and routines of daily life that we no longer even make an effort to accomplish them. For far too many, the dream has dissipated and with it, so has the will to shape our destinies." Tony Robbins
With passion we live, without it we simply exist. Passion is the great motivator; it is the catalyst that ignites the imagination, the force that breaks doors down and the ultimate spark that brings life where none existed before. With passion we are vibrant and alive, without it we are simply marking time.
Passion is that state when the energy if fully concentrated on a specific and all-important objective. An objective that is deemed greater and more important than we are. With passion we are on a mission. With passion, failure is not an option. Passion is the one element absolutely essential to any worthwhile achievement.
Passion is an emotion that we were born with. It may be one of the first emotions that we ever felt. Anyone who has ever seen a baby cry because he was hungry will attest to that. There is no reserve there. Every once of energy is monopolized to satisfy the need for food. That's passion in its most elementary form.
As we grew and matured into adulthood, we were taught to subdue our passion. We learned to be "reasonable." We learned how to compromise. That may have been a necessary lesson but it may also be a lesson that was so forcefully injected that it buried the ability to feel passionate. If so, passion has to be rekindled and nurtured so that it can be reborn.
Passion is associated with the Id part of our psyche. It is part of the raw and primitive impulses of the beast that lies within us. A beast that must be tamed and controlled but not one that should squashed and destroyed. Passion controlled, is our best ally, unchecked it becomes our worst nightmare.
Passion has a deadly enemy and it's called frustration. Frustration, if allowed to linger on, can either destroy passion or turn it into a self-destructive force. Passion and frustration can create a very toxic mixture that must never be allowed to overcome rational thinking. Either we master strong emotions or we become the their slave. Mastering those emotions is what maturity is all about.
With maturity we can turn explosive and potentially destructive passion into a rather quiet but unstoppable force. That is the passion that can be seen in the Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama. By controlling their passion, these people were propelled to greatness. On the other hand, the headlines are filled with the sad stories of people who could not or would not control their passion and where misery ensued.
The right kind of passion can be nurtured and cultivated. That is done with practice. It is done through complete involvement and total focus. We can be passionate about almost anything. It can be done in sport, writing an article or designing and building a life. Passion, as with any other sphere of endeavor, is perfected through practice. The more we exercise it, the more adept we become.
Passion is a gift that we received at birth. It can be our greatest resource as it can be the source of our demise. It's a resource that has to be nurtured, mastered and controlled. It holds our future in its hands. Be grateful for the gift. Learn to use and exploit it and watch wonders unfold.
