Rich or poor, we all suffer in some way. Suffering is part of life. However, suffering can give life meaning and be the seed from which much happiness and personal fulfillment can grow.
Passion by definition means to suffer for love. Greatness comes to those who can generate passion, those that are willing to suffer for love. I believe that idea is the essence of how the universe works.
The karmic nature of the universe shows us that there is balance to all things. Good can't exist without evil, pleasure without pain. There cannot be happiness without sadness. Passion, suffering for love, is the essence of the balance of pleasure and pain, therefore, living life passionately is the path to living a harmonious life.
Armed with this knowledge we should all become seekers for our passion. Determine what you love so much that you are willing to suffer for it in every nuance of the word: physically, emotionally, financially and so on. Generating passion and deeper levels of meaning for your suffering is a never ending job that is a requirement to staying on course.
Your passion will change you as a person. You will evolve. As you evolve so will your passion and it's meaning to you. It is a continuous cycle. It is work. Don't forget that.
So how do you generate passion? I'm going to take an excerpt from Dan John's book Never Let Go and put my own spin on it regarding generating passion.
Travel for your passion. Experience your passion in other places than your own comfortable surroundings. See what other people in other places that share your passion are doing. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to travel around the US teaching training seminars and training with other people outside of my comfort zone. I learn something new and am inspired to push myself harder every time I go train or teach somewhere new.
Hang out with people that share your passion as much as possible.
Read, listen and watch everything you can to become an expert in your field. I am so thankful I love to read because it has enriched my life beyond what words can express. I believe you have to be a seeker of knowledge to experience your passion to the fullest.
Travel some more, hang out some more and learn some more.
Spend money on your passion! In my experience the return on investment is always much more than the financial buy-in.
See number four again.
There were several people that inspired this blog entry. Two that stand out are Dan John and Bronny, the Serbian massage therapist that worked on me earlier this month. I want to give them both credit for helping me get these words down in a way that makes sense to me. Hopefully, this resonates with you too.
A couple closing thoughts...
Live life passionately!
If it is important, do it every day, if it isn't important, don't do it at all. This can be applied to life, exercise, love and learning.