Infuse Your Life with Passion

“Enthusiasm releases the drive to carry you over obstacles and adds significance to all you do.”

Norman Vincent Peale

I’ve been thinking . . . about inventing a passion injection.  I’m not kidding.  I’ve encountered so many people with an apathetic, poor me, life’s the pits mentality that siphons the energy out of others at an alarming rate. 

There has to be a solution.

President Ronald Reagan told the story of a little boy who had reached school age.  His mother worked very hard to get him enthusiastic about the idea by buying him his favorite new tennis shoes, telling him about all the new friends he would make, and the great teacher he was going to have.  He was excited as he left for school on the first day and came home with reports that lived up to everything mom said it would be. 

The next morning his mother went into the bedroom to wake him up.  Struggling to open his eyes, the little boy drearily responded, “What for?”  Mom replied, “You’ve got to go to school.”  The little boy said, “What, again?”

Life is like that sometimes.  We get ourselves up for the big event only to realize we have to do it again tomorrow.  Somebody once said the only problem with life is that it is so daily.

People who live lives infused with passion realize it is a perpetual lifestyle.  Enthusiasm isn’t something you get yourself up for and then its over.  A passionate life is lived by passionate people.  Napoleon Hill asserted that “Enthusiasm is the radio wave by which you transmit your personality to others.”  I like that.

While researching over 500 top performers from all areas of work, the arts and sports, Robert Kriegel concluded: “No two were alike, but the one quality they had in common was passion!  It was their drive, their enthusiasm, their desire that distinguished them.”

Kriegel went on to say that, “Passion kindles a spark that inspires you and others around you to greater heights.”  You can’t put life into your living if you’re living with a lukewarm heart.  Excitement for learning, a desire to grow, a willingness to try new things, creating lofty dreams, energizing talents and a positive outlook are all important for putting vitality back in life.

Enthusiasm is a mystery to many people.  It’s perceived as this mystical quality possessed by people who jump up and down, talk loud, or have a curious grin pasted on their face.  Enthusiasm is simply the psychological adrenaline that makes the difference between going through the motions of existing or really living.

The word enthusiasm has very little to do with a showy outward display but is created by an inner exuberance.  That’s probably why Eleanor Roosevelt believed, “Age wrinkles the skin, but to lose your enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

                                 

Think about this.  The furnace in our home is powered by natural gas.  During the winter season, a pilot light is always burning low, ready to ignite the flame that will produce the necessary heat to warm our home.  So it is with enthusiasm.  The power is inside ready to be ignited when life’s situations call for it.  It’s your job to light the inner fire.  But how?

I’ve watched enthusiastic people maintain their inner exuberance day in and day out with unwavering commitment.  I believe the primary reason for their consistency is the choice they make to be enthusiastic.  That may sound simplistic, but it’s true.  You become enthusiastic by deciding to.

I firmly believe with William Arthur Ward that, “Enthusiasm and persistence can make an average person superior; indifference and lethargy can make a superior person average.”

Here’s a few practical ways to infuse your life with passion:

• Approach every day, routine task, or common experience with the gusto you would if it was your first time.  Wake up every morning with a mind set that this will be a great day filled with opportunities and challenges I’m prepared to meet.

 

• As you approach your job, be motivated by the cause you believe in rather than the monthly paycheck.  You can never excel at something that you don’t passionately care about.  Involve yourself in work that inspires you to become “constructively obsessed.”

• Light your own fire.  Be self-motivated.  Smile enthusiastically.  Walk enthusiastically.  Talk enthusiastically.  Incorporate words like “fantastic”, “terrific”, and “exciting” into your vocabulary.  Act as if you’re enthusiastic.  Even if you don’t feel enthusiastic this very moment, fake it with your actions and you’ll begin to feel the emotion.

• Exceed yesterday’s performance today.  Never be content with “good enough”.  Strive for excellence.  Henry Ford once said, “You can do anything if you have enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will, and energy to execute your ideas.  Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress!  With it, there is accomplishment.  Without it, there are only alibis.”

• Make your work fun rather than an obligation.  Seek out ways to add fun into your work or find a way to have fun doing what you’re doing.  Laugh.

• Be committed to set an enthusiastic example for others.  Don’t wait for others.  Be the most enthusiastic person you know.  You can never expect a fire in others unless it is burning within you.  I love John Wesley’s approach:  “I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.”

• Anticipate, accept, even welcome change as an opportunity to grow and draw upon your internal flame to go beyond where you are.  Loosen the limits of your comfort zone thinking and explore the adventure change introduces.

• Open your mind.  Don’t get stuck on today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions.  Raise your curiosity concerning what might be and be willing to try new methods to deal with nagging issues.  Develop a “whatever it takes” approach and accept responsibility for the outcomes.

• Make it an ongoing mission to draw the best out of others.  Believe in people and their potential.  “There is an energy field between humans,” wrote Rollo May.  “And, when a person reaches out in passion, it is usually met with an answering passion.”

• View mistakes and failures as temporary setbacks and stepping stones to future success.  People with passion continue to pursue their dreams when others give up.  Their commitment and dedication provide unstoppable energy even when the odds are against them.  Obstacles and hurdles are actually used to propel them forward rather than set them back.

Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard believed, “This age will die, not from sin, but from lack of passion.”  Helen Keller observed, “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.” 

Our generation needs a renewed passion.  We need to insure the pilot is burning and ready to ignite the flames of enthusiasm.  As the Italian poet Dante so aptly said, “A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.” 

Think of three things that ignite your passion.  How can you get that same level of excitement in other areas of your life?  Determine what adds spark to your daily living and keep those fires burning.  There are many things in life that will catch your attention, but it’s more important to find the few things that will capture your heart and ignite your passion.

Infuse your life with passion!

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived?  Find your passion, whatever it may be.  Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.”

T. Alan Armstrong

Do The Thing You Fear The Most

“People worry for only two reasons.  Either they stand to lose something they want to keep, or they stand not to gain something they want.”

Nido Quebin

I’ve Been Thinking . . . about all of the things I could be worrying about.  However, I’ve decided not to waste the energy.  That may sound incredibly disciplined.  Not really.  I learned the hard way that worry is wasted energy that resolves absolutely, positively nothing.

As a teenager I struggled with an addiction called worry.  I could worry about almost anything, almost all the time.  It was great having me in the family so I could do all the worrying for everyone.  I figured it was my God-given privilege to bear the load.

I recall a personal dilemma in high school that gave me reason to shift my worrisome lifestyle into high gear.  Homecoming was just around the corner and I wanted to ask Judy to attend the activities with me.  But, I convinced myself of several reasons why Judy would turn me down (a common practice of professional worriers).  However, mustering what little courage I possessed deep inside, I decided to go for it.  Of course, I could never ask her face to face.  It would be too devastating to be face to face when she declined my invitation. 

My heart was pounding and my mouth went dry as I dialed Judy’s number.  Maybe she wouldn’t be home.  I’ll bet someone has already asked her.  Her mother will never let her go out with me.  “Hello, Judy,” I said, my voice shaking; “You wouldn’t want to go with me to homecoming would you?”

“I’d love to,” Judy replied.  “You would?” I responded recognizing the surprise in my voice.  “Good. I’ll talk to you later.”

You might think this was the end of my worry campaign but the anxiety had just begun.  I began worrying about the meal, the dance, and finally how I would give Judy a good night kiss.  I invested a multitude of energy into possible approaches for kissing Judy when the evening was over.  I finally decided on a romantic approach but was convinced, as good as it was, that rejection was eminent.

I was only fifteen at the time, so Judy and I double-dated with friends.  As the evening’s activities drew to a close, we made our way back to Judy’s home.  Driving into the driveway, I immediately noticed her father had turned on the yellow bug light above the front door. I hadn’t planned on this less than romantic addition to my plan.  But I was determined to go forward.  It had been a fabulous evening and I wasn’t about to let it end without a goodnight kiss.

Judy and I stood facing each other.  It was time to implement my plan.  “Judy,” I began, “Oh that I had ten thousand eyes to behold you with, my dear.”  (Not bad for a fifteen year old).  “Judy, I wish I had ten thousand arms to hold you with, my dear.”  I knew it was working because Judy just looked at me with a blank expression on her face.  Finally, I said, “Oh Judy, oh that I had ten thousand lips to kiss you with my dear!”

To this day, I’ll never forget her response.  Judy looked me square in the eye and with passion in her voice replied, “Glenn, why don’t you use what you have!” 

And I did.

I learned a lot about worry and fear that night.  Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said, “Do the thing you fear the most and the death of fear is certain.”  That simple advice can alleviate an unnecessary waste of energy.  Action is worry’s antidote.  Substitute positive action for worry and you’ll find the anxiety begin to subside.  

“It doesn’t pay to worry.  If you went through last year’s files marked “important,” chances are the only things you’d keep are the paper clips.”

 Robert Orben