Passionate People

If there is anything that charges my batteries it is passionate people.  I am magnetically drawn to people who have passion.  Passion for life. Passion for God.  Passion for fashion.  You get the picture.  Passion is contagious.  Passion is what makes the time fly by.  When I meet people with passion I just want to scoop them up.

Passion is irresistible.  When I think about passion I picture a bug zapper.  You remember the kind that used to hang off the back of porches and patios.  Nowadays you can find them in just about any redneck residence.  There is something contagious about a bug zapper.  It amazes me at the number of bugs who can not resist the irredescent glow of an electrifying experience. It’s as if it has an invisible tractor beam that bugs can’t escape.  (Right now I’m picturing Poltergeist–”Carol Anne, Stay away from the Light!”)  It is irresistible.  Of course this is where my analogy ends because for the bugs the zapper equals emminent death and charring.  I’ve always picture one old bug with a beard and a cane sitting near the zapper warning all the young bucks to stay away from the light.  “Don’t go near the light.  Anyone who enters the light never comes back.  Matter of fact they get torched into crispy remains and only their thorax remains.”  Or maybe this only happens in my imagination.

Back to my passionate people rant.  I love them.  People who wake up each day unsure of where they are going but knowing that where ever they wind up they are going to make a difference. People who approach life with the attitude that says I may not be able to control everything that is thrown my way today but I can control how I respond to it.  Passion is what keeps us young.  Passion is what makes us attractive.  Passion is what reflects Christ in us.

Recharge your passion!  How do you do it?  Great question.  There are a million different answers for a million different people.  Ultimately it boils down to a few things.  When you read them you’re gonna think, “thanks Einstein.”  here they are:

1. Make a list of what you love to do.  Now go do it.  I know, I know.  You’re thinking you don’t have time to do what you love to do and that is exactly why you have to drop what you are doing and do it.  Do you love to fish, surf, shop, skate, cook, watch movies, 24???.  What this world needs is people who do what they love. Besides people who do what they love are more fun to be with.  Go have fun.  The world will thank you.
2. Enlist in something that is making a difference.  Too often we live in a tiny little melodrama called “my life.”  When this happens I forget that other people exist and that I am called to serve them. Strangely enough, when I serve other people, I, in some strange way, get excited and energized.  Plug in to a church, boys and girls club, homeless ministry, little league, brownies, whatever.  Just find someway to impact someone else’s life.
3. Read.  Yes you READ that correctly.  Find something that opens up your mind to new thoughts and ideas.  Reading stretches your imagination and allows you to picture a world that noone else can visualize.  Read some fiction and try to picture what the characters look like and talk like.  Read a business book and look for the nugget that you can apply to your life.  Read a history book and learn about people who have gone before you. The more you read the more you will be passionate to share with others what you’re learning.
4. Rest.  Go to bed early.  I meet many people whose passion has fizzled because they don’t rest.  I am usually in bed by 10pm and up by 6:30am.  I typically take atleast one day away from work(I shoot for two days away from work).  Find time to rest.  Take a nap.  Now.
5. Spend time with God.  I don’t believe it is possible to sustain a passion for life without a passion for God.  I believe it is possible to fabricate a passion for life apart from a passion for God but it won’t last.  Spend time simply hanging out with God.  We’ll be glad you did.
6. Hang with your Family.  Avoid misguided passion.  Misguided passion is passion that pulls you away from what is really important.  For example don’t allow your desire to climb the corporate ladder to eclipse your desire to play trains with your kids.  Misguided passion will lead to a lonely life.  Decide now that you would rather celebrate a life poverty before you celebrate a life of loneliness.  Hang with your Family and you just might be surprised how it all shakes out.
7. Love your spouse and make love with your spouse.  The two are synonymous.  I’ve never met a guy who had healthy sex life that was miserable.  Find ways of communicating love to your spouse via their love language. The benefits are great.

Anyway, there are thousands more but these are some of the key ingredients in my life and in the life of passionate people.