Passion - On Target or Misplaced

Nuggets For The Noggin

Passion – On Target or Misplaced

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, November 25, 2011

Unless you live under a rock, you should be aware of the Occupy (you name the street) protest groups around the country if not the world.  Personally I am impressed with the passion of these folks whether you believe it is justified or misdirected.  History is full of passion misdirected. 

Where can you find passion like the protesters have?  Let me see… 

Go to almost any university on Saturday morning/afternoon/evening and you see passion amongst the supporters of their local football team tailgating in parking lots across America.  The same applies to the National Football League once a week. 

Look at the hundreds of thousands of supporters for political candidates who they believe in or what they support. 

Not easily found are the folks who support charities by giving of their time and/or their money for a cause they believe in. 

Think of Ryan Hreljac.  Who is Ryan Hreljac?  When Ryan Hreljac was just six years old, he set on the task of raising enough money to build (drill) a well to bring clean water to people who needed it. Today, aged 16 (2008) and relentlessly pursuing his childhood dream, Ryan's Well Foundation has built 365 wells (now 700 wells) - serving over 500,000 (now 736,569) people with clean water - supported sanitation, health and hygiene services in 14 countries around the world, is working with partners such as Matt Damon's H2O Africa Foundation, and has been featured on CNN Heroes and Oprah.  Keller Cares (Keller Williams Realty International) also contributed to his foundation to provide clean drinking water.  See for yourself at:  www.ryanswell.ca 

You do not have to look very far to see and witness passion.  There are hundreds if not thousands of stories like Ryan Hreljac’s; you just have to look for them. 

Right or wrong, the perception of the “occupiers of (you name the street)” is that they want something for nothing.  They want to take from those who “have” instead of providing for themselves.  What could they produce or become if they redirected their passion to self-improvement or improving the plight of others.  If a 6 year old can provide safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands, what could just one of the occupiers do? 

The real question should be “What are you passionate about?”  Is your passion productive or non-productive?  As an example, if your passion is watching reality television, will you be able to attribute any of that television time to your eventual success (or non-success)?  The same is true of golfing (can’t believe I just wrote that), fishing, hunting, mindless shopping, or becoming an expert couch-potato. 

I am not suggesting that you should not engage in those things that you enjoy but rather are you also engaging in activities that would lead you to achieve the goals you dream of achieving.  The problem is that if you are only dreaming, you are not taking action to achieve those dreams.  That is the one flaw in the Law of Attraction.  Just wishing something to be so will not happen just by dreaming.  Most goals eventually break down to attracting the kind of money you would need in order to make your goals happen.  For example, if your goal is to rid the world of hunger and poverty or find a cure for a disease, that takes money and/or time.  Time you have, money you may not have.  Wallace Wattles wrote in 1910, to help those in poverty, avoid being in poverty yourself – make money and then you personally can do something about poverty, if only by setting the proper example. 

I highly recommend reading “What’s The BIG Secret?” written by Michael Dunn (of Slidell, LA).  The book reminds me of the story about providing hungry people fish to eat or teaching hungry people how to fish for themselves.  This is what Wattles wrote about when he suggested you engage in attaining wealth instead of wishing for wealth; the term “wealth” not necessarily meaning money but rather your goals. 

Have you ever given thought to just $1.00 that you may give to say finding a cure for breast cancer if it became the $1.00 that put the research over the top and found a cure?  Or the $1.00 that enables a 6 year old to drill just one well in Africa? 

It’s difficult to “give” the $1.00 if you first have not made the $1.00 (either in money or time).  In order to make the $1.00 you must redirect your focus and passion to what matters.  The balance occurs when you work towards achieving your goals while at the same time enjoying the activities you enjoy.  When you learn to enjoy your productive passion, you have struck “pay dirt!” 

Action Step: 

Do what you love; love what you do!

Hopefully that “love” will be productive

in one way or another!