Passion

• This is what I do for living…
• This is what I live for…

2 statements, very distinct, with meanings such deep that one could spend an eternity exploring the various interpretations.

First one is a set of actions that we enact to spend our lifetime, may be in a more comfortable and desired way. We are forced either by circumstances to adapt them or it’s our conscious and willing choice. Either ways we work, we work hard, toil harder and smarter to meet the ends (or is it just an ‘end’ and not ‘ends’ as it may seem to be?). It is a path we happen to travel on this journey of life. We pick up convocation, a profession, a skill or a skill-set (in our very own IT lingo) and devote our time and efforts to acquire a certain level of expertise. This level of expertise determines how good or bad we are at ‘the job’ (implying not the actual job but the domain or area of knowledge/skill).

Often we come across people who are not endowed with this education and training, but still they make most of the limited means they have at hand. You’ll find that most are doing well in life from these masses. Few would have made exceptionally well, even better than the ones with the formal education. What is the differentiating factor then???

Is it merely the education and training? Or just by fluke of luck? Or perhaps some Divine Intervention? Or is there something else which dictates the way they achieve success?

Guess they never use the first statement, “This is what I do for living…” instead they say “I love doing this…”, “I could do this all my life…”, “This is what I believe in…”, “This is what I live for…”.

They don’t see work as just work. They view it as something else. They are so passionate about what they do, that their enthusiasm becomes contagious and even people around them feel the positive vibes, the energy, the attachment.

It’s not the means to meet the end/s. It’s more like, there’s no end to this… love affair shall we say.

Passion is something which is very difficult to rein. It is the untied and the unrestricted belief in something that brings you immense contentment, satisfaction, pleasure. To be passionate is a necessary condition to achieve success and satisfaction. The measure of your success would not be greater if you were not passionate in the first place. The more passionate you are, sweeter is the success.

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

That’s what Muhammad Ali has to say. And we all know who he is… one of the greatest heavyweight championship boxers of all time.

There are countless examples which illustrate this simple fact. Take for instance, Lance Armstrong. We all know how he fought back cancer and continued cycling. Can we have an equal to George Lucas in another thousand years and a phenomenon as huge as Star-Wars in the cinematic history? Stephen Hawking is another person who inspite of all odds remained passionate about what he believed in. Vijay Mallya, Richard Branson, and the likes... people swear by their passion and enthusiasm… there are endless individuals who differ from the masses and will always be different… and the differentiating factor my dear friends is their passion…

Life without passion would not be as meaningful… Success without it wouldn’t be as glorious or sweeter…