Take away love, and our earth is a tomb. – Robert Browning
Life in a gray world, leaving the light to go below. Not much passion, more like a descent into a tomb.
A tomb, as you probably know, is a place where the dead are placed. And without passion, our lives would be as dull and dreary as the lives of the dead. I guess that would make us Zombies, which would fit, wouldn’t it?
Imagine, if you can, a world where not only is love of other people not present, but neither is your love for your favorite sports team, your favorite band or song. No love, no passion. None at all.
Does the analogy with the tomb seem a bit more appropriate for this vision, this dystopia? Would you want to live in a world without love, without passion for anything? It wouldn’t be a very fun place, would it?
Why is passion important?
Passion is where most people find joy. Whether it is an intimate passion with a lover, or a passion for an activity shared with friends, there is joy both in the experience, as well as in the sharing of it with another.
We tend to do things we enjoy, or which bring us joy. We often describe these things as what we love, or love to do. People who enjoy sailing, they love to sail. People who enjoy singing, they love to sing. Some people might even love to hear them sing.
Passion is one of the things that gets us up early in the morning, and keeps us up late at night. It is what keeps us going when all the others have given up. It helps us keep our faith when all around us seems to be going the wrong way, and all seems lost.
Passion is a very powerful force, and can be used to accomplish things which could be helpful or harmful to ourselves or others. Passion drives both the lover and the stalker. Passion, like most things in our lives, is both useful, and dangerous. But it is also necessary.
Where can I apply this in my life?
I believe we can use passion in almost any and every portion of our lives. Whether it’s our favorite sports team or our favorite song, we love it! We have people in our lives we love, in all the various and wonderful flavors in which love expresses itself.
Our passion probably extends to our work, our social lives, or our families in some form or another. Some may hate their work with a passion, but that can be a driving force, it can move you to get another job or get the training you need to get a better job, right?
Passion, like any other strong emotion, has the ability to do good and to do harm. A handful of derranged individuals hate their job so much that they do unspeakable things. That is to be avoides, as you might imagine. That’s not the kind of passion which inspires love.
So, the well tempered, loving form of passion is what keeps us from feeling like the walking dead. Dead on the inside, at least. What do you like, what is your passion? What is it that would get you up a little earlier in the morning, or keep you up a little later at night?
For me, this blog keeps me up late at night. That’s when the house is quiet, and I can get my work done. While I am normally a night person, this blog keeps me up even later than that, some nights. But when people leave comments about how a post has helped them, it’s all worth it.
Now take a moment to think back on some of your passions from years past. Perhaps you used to be passionate about something, but have since grown cold to it. Why did you give it up? Is it something you’d like to try again? Is the reason now past?
Did you quit it because of lack of time, lack of cash, or personality issues with someone? Is that still a problem, or is there a newer variation of it which might be of interest? Take a moment and go back to your childhood, and try to remember your passions. Besides chocolate chip cookies (yum!).
The point of the exercise is to recognize that we have passions. Some are a little buried, others are a lot buried. But none of them are dead. The question is what you want to do. What passions still burn within you, and what are you going to do to rekindle the fire?
Your other option is to leave your passions in the tomb, until you can join them. That doesn’t sound very exciting to me. So, what are you going to do?
From: Twitter, @Quotes_on_Love
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertbrow106539.html
Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read
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