01-04-2011 Cultural Post #4: What’s Missing

“Great dancers aren't great because of their technique;

They are great because of their passion….”

(Unknown)

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of Life….”

(Federico Fellini)

“They may forget what You said, but

they will never forget how You made them feel….”

(Carl W. Buechner)

Here’s the thing: Life isn’t really Life without passion.  i call it “existence.”

There’s only one reason to Live, and that’s to Love.  There isn’t really any point to anything beyond the Love of it.  You can tell me all You want about whatever motivates You or what legacy You want to leave or whatever other blather You can come up with, but – in the end – it just doesn’t matter very much.  The only thing that will remain when all else is said & done and everything evaporates and is gone is Love.

But now there are three: faith, hope, and…

Today, i invite You to consider what it is that sparks You.  What makes You pursue someone who is out of Your league?  What makes You do the work when You aren’t getting paid?  What makes You play ‘til Your fingers bleed?  What makes You scream at a basketball game until You have no voice left?  What makes You run into a fire?  What makes You pick up a gun and stand a post?  What makes You show up to teach again when no one listened yesterday?  What makes You open Your closet and remember others when no one is watching and – since they are Your enemy – there’s seemingly nothing in it for You?  What makes You paint the smallest detail on Your kid’s soapbox derby car?  What makes You volunteer to help kids who don’t have parents and no one else to stand up and speak for them in the courtroom?  What makes You pick up trash on the sides of the road?  What makes You take food to a friend’s house when their second parent died and they haven’t hit puberty yet?  What makes You lend her money?  What makes You pet Your cat more than it desires?  What makes You plow again when last year’s crop got hailed out?  What makes You root for them when Jerry Jones owns them?

Yea, i think You get the picture.  Life isn’t about survival – existence is about survival.  Life is about abundance.  And abundance is only enjoyable if You Love what You have in abundance.  If You have a million M&Ms but don’t like chocolate, then abundance isn’t so great.  But if You have a million friends and hate being alone, that’s called Life.

Today, try to spend that Life instead of wasting it.  And that spending is called passion.  It’s what drives You when all the good reasons You have to justify what You’re doing are all used up….