The most common advice that you can expect from any motivational speaker is this : Do what you are passionate about.
If everyone knows that, it should be easy. Right?
Only it isn’t.
Very few are able to identify what they are passionate about – for the rest, the search for passion is a lifelong exercise. Sometimes, by the time a person knows for sure what he is passionate about, it is too late to do anything about it.
Before I continue, let me tell you a story I heard as a boy.
There was once a famous sage, called Narad, who used to take the name of the Lord all the time. One day, proud of his devotion, he went to the Lord and asked Him who his favourite devotee was.
Narad was sure that the Lord would name him.
But, the Lord said, “A blacksmith who lives in a remote village is my greatest devotee.”
Narad was greatly disappointed, and a little angry.
The Lord, sensing Narad’s anger and disappointment, smiled at him and asked, “Am I wrong?”
Narad said, “How can you be wrong, my lord, but I am always taking your name and yet you don’t think I am your greatest devotee.”
The Lord told Narad to perform a task for him to prove his devotion. God asked Narad to carry a pot of water, filled up to its brim, around the world without spilling a single drop of water. Narad eager to prove his devotion set about doing the task and completed it successfully. Then, he went to the Lord with a triumphant smile on his face.
God smiled at him and asked, “So, how many times did you take remember me while you were doing your task?”
Narad’s face fell and he was ashamed. In his eagerness to finish the task assigned to him, he had completely forgotten to take the name of the Lord.
“Now you know,” the Lord said, “why that blacksmith is my greatest devotee. All his life – through all the pain, the suffering and the joy – he has never missed to remember me twice a day.”
This story tells us what passion is.
Passion is not something that we think we are good at or that we think we can be good at. Passion is that thing without which we can not live. The thing that we do everyday without fail, day after day.
No matter how busy we are, no matter how little time we have, if there is something that we want to do even when weighed down by life and work, then that thing is our passion.
If you have something like that, then, my friend, I would urge you to hold on to it till the end of time. For that is what you are passionate about, and that thing is what will help you add meaning to your life.
So, do you know what you are passionate about?
(Image Courtesy: petrenko from sxc.hu)
Great post. I think a mistake I often make and I see others making is mistaking passion for feeling. We need to “FEEL” the passion or it doesn’t exist. It’s a false indicator. In fact, I’d say passion is doing the job even when we don’t feel like it, because we know that’s part of the means to reach the goals.
@Julie I agree completely with you when you say that, “passion is doing the job even when we don’t feel like it” even though I wish that if we are passionate about something we may never feel like not doing it.
But, it happens.
Love this post! Knowing what your passion is, is truly a gift. I have come in contact with far too many people chasing a specific degree for the prestige and paycheck. When all is said and done, they have lost their passion. E.B. White once said that writing is an act of faith. I think that applies to living your passion as well 🙂
We are passionate about things that we encounter the most in our lives. While learning new things might seem only like something new to learn, after a while You might find Yourself teaching others. Passion.