We have many names for this so called feeling or drive within us but I cannot help but sit here thinking about where it comes from. And more importantly why don’t I have more of it?
You see these amazing motivational speakers and you sit in awe saying, I wish I had that drive, why did my passion for that thing disappear? I would have accomplished so much more in my life if I had more motivation. I speak to many of my friends and family members, and watch many in the world and most people all have the same lack within their lives. Some even suffer a worse fate, having no clue of what they should be passionately pursuing in the first place.
So then I come to this question; are we born with it?
Is each person born with a different measure of passion and drive inside of them, and if so, is that fair?
Cause then my lack of motivation is not really my fault at all, but my hereditary, even my upbringing, maybe I can even blame God. But when do I become old enough to take responsibility for that? Or then, can we really blame learners that sit in classrooms unmotivated?
But then my mind wanders to a little girl born in the slums of Uganda with a dream to play a game she knew nothing about. I observed the passion in her eyes as she stared at the game for the first time, and I watched as she played; such deep desire to become the best seeping into every move that she made on the chess board. But it wasn’t hereditary. She had come from an extremely poverty stricken family, growing up the slums of Katwe, and at first her mother didn’t even believe she could do it, neither did most of the people surrounding her in the village. But she passionately strived through it all and became an international chess master. So where did it come from?
Such a rare but attractive passion to pursue the thing you were born to do, in the midst of the greatest obstacles. We have seen and heard many more stories of people with great dreams reaching their full potential and purpose. People that come from the most broken families and poorest of neighborhoods, where no-one believed in them, but they pursued in the midst of hardship.
So no, hereditary and upbringing has little effect on this amazing commodity.
So this leads me to ponder on another question, what if motivation and passion comes to us through situations and circumstances!
What do I mean by this you might ask?
What if our purpose or dreams come to us in SEED FORM, and passion, motivation, desire and
endurance grows on the inside of us if we allow it to?
What if it’s not something you receive all at once in a download but over time it grows, if you allow it to ; as you approach new circumstances and trials, every time you push through it, a PASSION AND ENDURANCE is fueled to grow on the inside of you.
You see a seed is small yet powerful, if you allow it to take root and of course surround it with the things it needs to bloom, it will ultimately become much greater than the original seed.
That seed can be a small opportunity or belief in something you were called to do, something you know you were born to do, even a dream. But in that exact moment we have a choice, to take note of it and allow the seed to take root or ignore it and let it go.
But you might think it cannot be that easy, or the world would be full of passionate and driven people. But the reality is many people cannot push through the difficult times, they cannot wait for seasons to come and go, and they do not know how to water and grow that seed.
A lot of the times they do not even recognize the seed of purpose and opportunity in the first place, because it doesn’t come with flashing lights and sirens or heavens opening above us. It’s a small nudging on the the inside of us, it’s sometimes a “what if” moment and it sometimes doesn’t make sense all at once but becomes clearer over time. In these small but defining moments we have a choice, allow it to take root, and begin a process. Or ignore the nudging and carry on drifting through life. So my question now is, what is your current state?
If we only allow that SEED to take root, and choose to water it and grow it into something more, being careful as to what chokes it. Then that does become fair, because where I am right now in terms of my lack of motivation and vacillating passion and endurance is then all but my doing as it is my choice!
Sometimes it’s not the initial thrust of allowing an opportunity to take hold in your life. But usually it the small doses of obstacles or even trials that tend to take us out. But why do we allow this choking of the seed that has barely even begun to grow within us?
Many of us take on a new challenge full of passion and overflowing in excitement and at the first few hiccups our motivation starts to erode until we give up.
We have become a society that chooses rather not to fight through something, but when it becomes inconvenient or difficult we rather give up than try to push forward.
Today, let us start identifying and eradicating those things that stop us from pushing forward and persevering; choosing a response of fight not flight.
Many factors add to the stagnation and procrastination in our lives.
It could be the way you choose see your situation… seeing an obstacle NOT an opportunity and time to grow.
It could be the company/friends you choose… those who choke the seed instead of watering it.
It could be the time you choose to give to it… wanting growth but you have not weeded or pruned.
It could be the tired time you choose to give to God… expecting a voice to speak into the busyness of your mind and emotions.
When I look at all of the above, I see the lack in all areas of my life. But in all of these lies a common thread, they are all choices!!! And so I choose today to start…
I start the process of wiping the lenses of my glasses… so I SEE better.
I start the process of refining relationships, that inner circle or community I allow to speak into my life.
I start the much needed time management that I have put off for the longest time.
And most importantly I start seeking Him first, giving Him my best time and not my tired time.
You see He will teach me how to do the other three, which I so battle with. I don’t really know how this will all fit into my busy schedule, but I do know this; putting Him first is the greatest step I could make today towards my pursuit of passion and endurance to accomplish my purpose and dreams.