by Cynthia Ruff

Created on: August 21, 2010

Life is a journey.  The journey involves trying different occupations to discover what is suitable for each one of us.  Therefore, we must know ourselves and understand our abilities as well as our limitations.  The world will never just revolve around us.  We will always find ourselves accommodating someone else, a certain entity of society, a client, a culture, the customers, patient, student, the elderly.

When we have passion for our work, we do it joyously and enthusiastically.  People can feel our joy just as easily as they can our discontent.  Being passionate shows that we care about our contribution to society and in turn we care about all those we serve.

When we are merely going through the motions of our job, we are not giving it everything that we should, and everyone suffers.  Our lack of passion is transferred to those we are serving and those who must work with or for us.  They are affected by our behavior; they find themselves wallowing now in our discontent.

A teacher cannot inspire students without passion; a doctor cannot reassure patients of his or her ability to care for them without passion; a minister cannot reach the people without passion.  When we lack passion, we must move on. We must move one not just for our sake but for that of others who are affected by our attitude.

Passion and love go hand in hand.  Love your work and the passion will follow.  We must love what we do; we must look forward to it.  We must not see it as a burden, and we must strive to improve ourselves in our work.  Finding the most efficient and best way to tackle the workload, give the lecture, and become organized helps make the job more enjoyable and more meaningful.  When we have our work down to, literally, a science, then we can begin to reach others through our passion and joy.  Our passion helps us move forward; it brings on incredible accomplishments; it drives us to do more, to be more, and to seek more in this life.

In our lifetimes, we will spend thousands and thousands of hours working.  What are your passions?  Do you enjoy working with the elderly or does it depress you?  Do you enjoy working with children or do they just leave you feeling discouraged and agitated?  Does working on detail-oriented projects frustrate you?  Does staring at the blank page knowing you must put thoughts to paper scare you?  Does the clutter in a room that begs to be organized overwhelm you?

Know yourself – know your passion – then just do it.

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