dash of passion?

What is your secret recipe? Do you have one? There is a local dive I am quite fond of, that had a chili concoction that was kept under lock and key. It was not like anything served in other places. When you got one of those hot dogs with the white spicy oniony something or another chili- it made your mouth come alive. Your taste buds glowed. Some people would say, “Light” or add some cool ketchup to tame it down, but everyone loved those shriveled up dogs fried in a deep vat, served on squishy soft steamed hot buns with that amazing sauce! If you look very closely, you can see it- faintly. What it lacks in looks, it makes up for in tastes!!!

What is the key ingredient? No one knows. Many tried to replicate it. The ladies who made it fresh every morning finally aged out and after a while someone new to the little family enterprise “stole” the recipe or said they did. They were not very successful. Perhaps, there is something extra, that went in each batch?

That’s it. The special ingredient was passion. The passion that came from knowing you were doing exactly what you loved and were meant to be doing.

I can’t be sure, but I believe Jimmy Buffett expressed this in his song “It’s my job” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfxXfdgPZSY  The writer ( his buddy, Mac McAnnally with whom he spent a career serving their mutual passions) admitted he slept all day and wrote songs, but when on stage- the song is on and you feel that sweat. “It’s my job to be different than the rest, to be better than the best, that’s enough reason to go for me…that makes the day for me.”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d2wCIRTsxQ  30 years is a long time to be doing something you don’t feel strongly about and hardly a twinkle in time, when you do.

We hear Oprah say, “do what you love and love what you do.” Simple, for her?

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”  ―Joseph Campbell

All the amazingly successful people refer back to “finding their passion”. Steve Jobs said, “Work will fill a large part of your life. The only way to be truly satisfied is to do great work- to love what you do- as with all matters of the heart, you will know when you find it.” Jon Stewart- how do you know the right path? You won’t, there is no core curriculum, your entire life is an elective- the paths are infinite and the results uncertain”.

“Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion”- Michael Jordan

Passion, the Secret Ingredient to Success. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTE5O9GxiIc

There is this concept that our passion is a deep secret. It’s not. It’s the place you find energy, peace, comfort, excitement, all the ranges of emotion- wrapped in one place, one thing, one activity, one adventure, one great work. Feel it- Embrace it. It doesn’t have to look like anything, to anyone else. You will feel it and know you have met your purpose and are right where you are meant to be- in your life!