Passion Warning!

I will always encourage you to discover your talents and follow your passion. Once you have discovered your passion, any attempt to silence it will not come easy. Thereby, in all fairness to you, I feel compelled to warn you of the impending challenges you will face and the questions you may ask yourself along the way.

Reality:
- You may or may not realize your ultimate dream to make a positive difference in the world, one that sets out to do no harm.
- From time to time you may have avid supporters. And at other times you will find yourself feeling all alone.
- You will be rewarded with both small and large gains along the way and at other times you will feel the pressure of taking two steps backwards.
- Your level of confidence will rise and fall over and over again.
- At times you will see clearly where you are headed and at other times you will wonder if you are on the right path.

At this point, you may strongly consider not even trying. You may think it would be easier to just remain where you are and continue on the general day-to-day passionless journey traveled by most. But, first allow me to share with you a couple of stories that have inspired me over the past two weeks.

I listened to an unabridged version of a story about a man name Greg Mortensen, the author of Three Cups of Tea. Mortensen sets out to climb K-2 and ultimately end up making a commit to build a school for girls in Pakistan. His unrelenting passion for his cause is met with challenge after challenge, yet he manages to keep his promise and build not one school but several schools over the years. http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

I also watched the movie The Hurt Locker. The story centers on a team of soldiers who are responsible for disarming bombs in the mist of the combat. Once again, the power of passion and dedication to one’s cause became evident. At the end of the movie the Staff Sgt. James was back home with him family. A few days later he was talking to his little baby when he realized the pull of his passion. His words to his little baby were “The older you get the fewer things you really love. By the time you get to my age, maybe it’s only one or two things.” After a brief pause he continues by saying “maybe it’s just one”. In the following scene he’s in a military helicopter and back in the combat zone. In the last scene he’s walking, once again down the street to disarm another bomb.

So don't allow doubt, challenges or a feeling of loneliness keep you from taking the next step. The only way to make a difference in the future is to take the next step forward. Standing still will never do for the passionate individual, team, group, or family. I hope you will continue to identify the one thing in life you feel passionate about, one that seeks to do no harm. Discover the one thing that will both energize you and drain you at the same time, as this makes for good sleep. Define for yourself the positive impact you wish to make in the world. And, add to your tool box stories that will give you the strength you need to persist when things don’t seem to be going your way.

May your efforts be filled with blessing from above!

P.S. After I completed my post I came across Dr. Marshall Goldsmith's post. His post has to do with the same general topic I've written about, the challenges associated with change and not giving up. Thereby, I'm including a link to his blog site as well. http://marshallgoldsmith.blogspot.com/2010/06/don-give-up-on-change.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MarshallGoldsmithLibrary+%28Marshall+Goldsmith+Library%29&utm_content=Twitter