Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you do with your life, be passionate.

                 Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. -Jon Bon Jovi 

      Okay, so there may be a few things that are more important than passion, but i’ve realized lately that if I am not passionate and driven, I really could not care less about almost everything else. I need to be challenged and to be able to succeed in at least some of those challenges. I need things that make me laugh so hard that I’m afraid i’ll pee my pants, and to be allowed to cry just as hard. Passion is defined as “strong and barely controllable emotion” or “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something.” Which, if you ask me, seems a bit too strong. But then again, maybe that is my problem. I need passion, but I am afraid or unable to really seek it out. We say we are passionate about things, but in reality we just have a fondness for them. Why is that? I am so, so guilty of this, and I am so, so tired of it as well! I want to feel strong and barely controllable emotions about the things that make me tick, that fill me up. Those life-giving things should be the roots of my passions, not the ends.

          Now, this may seem a bit random- i’m writing a blog at 1am about passion. What has gotten into me? Probably a lot of things, but if you were to ask right now what I think of when you ask what i’m passionate about, i’d have a weird answer. Honestly, i’m passionate about little kids, their development, education, and awesomeness, and i’m passionate about my night guard. 🙂 I decided that passion should not be reserved for those things others deem worthy, but instead for those things that move us, even in unexpected ways. So what if i’m moved by a glorified piece of plastic? I can guarantee i’m not the only one that ever has been.

      So my point, I guess, is that we all need to be more passionate and less discriminate about the subjects of that passion. I get into this rut where it feels impossible to ever be fully functional without a pot of coffee or a serious self-pep talk and some solid “tummy time” but what’s the use? Why do we watch ourselves getting burned out and falling apart when often all it takes to hold it together is a little passion? Sometimes, I will be teaching kids all day that have no desire to succeed or to take their educations seriously. It can be a life-draining force in a big way, but last year I realized that all I needed to feel better, and oftentimes help my special ed kids feel better too, was a little passion. I was wearing too many hats to balance (special ed department, kindergarten teacher, accountant controller, english teacher, women’s group coordinator/baby sitter at times, sponsor a child coordinator, and generally on-call missionary… whew.) and knew I either had to let something fall or find joy and passion in something I had to balance anyway. So I opened my eyes to the little pumpkin heads in front of me in Kinder, to the driven amazing kids in special ed, and to the somehow soothing bickering of those Honduran ladies. You can find life and passion in just about any place if you know what to look for. For me, I need to look for silly-ness and genuine trust, and a never-ending source of chances to learn (even if it is from your mistakes.)

      This year, when I feel like I can’t handle it all, I take a break and visit the 1st grade classroom. Most of those kids were my students in Kinder, and all of them have this beautiful, pure, passionate love that they are so eager to pour out onto me, undeserving as I may be. I so look forward to the days where I am in their classroom, or even the class next door because they always yell out the door “Profa! Te quiero! Ven y ver lo que puedo hacer!” “Teacher! I love you! Come and see what I can do!” and stop me in my tracks. That’s the joy I want. That’s the passion- they are overflowing with excitement and emotion, with passion for LIFE in all it’s masks.

      So I guess I don’t have a conclusion to this, except a little unsolicited advice: 1. no matter what you do in your life, be passionate. 2. When you find that passion in others, soak it up as much as you can. When you find it in yourself, pour it out indiscriminately so others can catch those golden drops. 3. Always have an answer to the question “What are you passionate about?” and never be ashamed to proclaim it. After all, maybe someone will be walking by who could really use a little of your passion too.

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