So what is passion? It’s a concept that gets tossed around from time to time in life. I haven’t realized till recently, but when I looked up the conversation on passion, all the major points and ideas on passion make complete sense to me; I understand what passion is and how important it is to have in your life.

Passion is on the top five of what’s needed for human survival; next to oxygen, water, food and sex in no particular order. To give you a general idea of what passion is; below are some of the definitions.

Passion: “A state or outburst of strong emotion,” “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something,” or “intense sexual love,” all accurate descriptions. Passion can mean different things depending on the context and the person feeling passion. But at its core, it’s an intense emotion and love towards something. Passion drives and passion ignites fire into ones soul, it what makes a person feel alive. All great accomplishments and fulfilled lives came from a strong commitment, love and desire.

In this post with the help of some insightful quotes about passion from some inspiring people, you’ll come to realize why you and everyone else around you will need passion to fully experience life.

 

“The Two Most Important Days In Your Life Are The Day You Are Born And the Day You Find Out Why.” – Mark Twain

The above is a beautiful quote about passion. Some people like to think that purpose and passion will just come to them like a surge of lighting (what are the chances of that?). Truth be told, passion is found when you actively pursue things that interests you, you try some things and if they don’t work out, then continue until you find one that does. If what you’re pursuing is something you’re supposed be doing, you will relentlessly continue on with a deep desire for that passion and because of that passion, will get better and grow with it.

For an example; you may not realize at first that you love you dancing but, fast-forward five years and your still dancing and it has become a huge part of your life, your even getting paid to do it. And you see that’s another thing to remember about passion, it’s not something that comes so sudden either (for the most part at least), its take time to cultivate into something wonderful. Your interest in music may at first be piqued, and you simply enjoy making music but as time goes you grow to not only improve at every day, but you find you simply can’t live without, it’s part of you and you with you find a way to give value to the world with your passion, you discover why your alive.

 

“Passion Is Energy. Feel The Power That Comes From Focusing On What Excites You” – Oprah Winfrey

Yes passion is a force that will propel you on like nothing else. Your focus and energy will seemingly be infinite. You’ll find yourself immersing dozen of hours of working at your passion, wondering how fast time can fly when you’re doing what you love. Now there is a dark side to passion (it’s not all sunshine and rainbows).

Interestingly enough the word passion comes from the Latin word passio which means suffering. Which is also to say that anything worthwhile takes hard work; blood, sweat and tears. This is a reason many people will live out hollow lives simply because they can’t take the heart ache, fear and uncertainty.

Following your passion is hard at times and you see yourself all-time lows now and again, but because you love what you do, there is no question in your mind that will continue to do it. You’ll see no other option. Suffering is part of the challenge, part of the journey. All things that give people passion, will also give them pain, some more than others.

When you do something you love, you don’t take it for granted, you know you’ll hit obstacles, it’ll separate you from people, it’ll make you question your self, but the energy and focus you get from your passion will help push you through it, you’ll preserver because you love it. You won’t need certainty, comfort or a “still boat”. You’ll want your passion and the waves you’ll create with it.

“The Only Way To Do Great Work Is Love What You Do.” – Steve Jobs

A great quote about passion by the late Steve Jobs. Great albums, films, choreography, social movements are the results of passion. Change and remarkable events comes from passion; it comes from hard work and innovation and to spark these moments you’re going to need a burning desire in your heart, you’re going need passion.

Man reaches great heights by doing what they love do and by doing it well. The reason isn’t money or validation, sure those things are nice. But Great achievements come from a burning passion. Great songs don’t get made because people want some extra cash or they think it be kind of cool. People make great songs, because they love what they do and give themselves over to the passion to create songs that move people. When you love what you do, you’ll do all the things required to do it great and be a success; it’s a side effect that comes from doing what you love to do.

 

“The Only Question Asked Of His Life Was Did He Have Passion.” – Anonymous

Not sure on the exact source of that quote but from my understanding it’s a combination of a quote from the 2001 movie “Serdepindty” and the philosophy of Greek philosopher Aristippus of Cyrene. None the less it’s a great quote about passion.

When you die, what is it you want people to remember about you; did you simply live for yourself keeping your world small or did you commit to something bigger than yourself. Did you have passion. People will forget what you said, your assets, and what you last tweeted about, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Did you inspire, did you live a life full of passion.

 

Here is a TED Ed video from Richard St. John that complements this post well and shares a similar name.

 

That last line is important: “It’s amazing what you can do, if you love what you do”. Also want to point out that passion bleeds into various areas of your life, it makes you happier and develops strength, confidence and character. Also if your passionate about what you do, you more than likely be also be passionate about whom you love. A burning passion for your work, life and love is what makes us feel truly alive.

 

 

My hope is here is that you no longer have to ask what is passion or why you need it in your life. Passion is what gets you up in the morning, passion is what makes all bad moments in life, water of a ducks back, passion is what allows you do great things, things you didn’t know what you were capable of. Passion is what ignites the fire in your life, the candle that was waiting for a lit.

Maybe you just realized what your passion has been for years, or maybe you’re well on way to finding it. Never settle for less. Until the fire is lit, continue your journey to find passion, and when you find the thing that captures your heart, you’ll know it. And when you find that burning desire,when you live a life of passion. Know that life will only get better from here; more fulfilling, more rewarding.

Move & inspire,

Alex Gomes

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