“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” - Joss Whedon - ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Passion is the most important and sought-after quality in any profession. It is also something you cannot fake at a job interview and something that is clearly seen by those around. A person passionate about what they do is at peace – he has found his niche in life – his identity. He understands his inner need to do what he does and he does it the best he can.
Passion cannot be taught or learned – it can only be found. Finding your passion can be a long and hard process or it can be obvious. A four-year old girl saying “I want to become a ballet dancer” can be a sign of a future passion towards dancing; or a 18-year old living with his parents and looking at his computer all night could be a sign of passion towards programming. Yet often, signs are ignored, and the girl goes to study mathematics and the guy goes to sell women’s shoes during the day, both either not recognizing their passion or not acting on it.
If you don’t have passion for what you do, then why are you doing it? Life is too short to waste it on things you don’t care about. “But I have bills to pay! But I have a mortgage! But… But..”. STOP. You are not listening. What you are doing is not worth doing, at least not by you. You are not passionate about it. Walk away from it. Deal with the consequences and go after what you’re passionate about. You’ll feel so much better afterwards. It’s like getting out of a bad relationship – it’ll hurt at first but the feeling of freedom, peace and happiness will come in due time.
Find your passion. Go after it. Trust me – people will notice. People will respect you for that. Everything else will fall in place once you’ve discovered that.
