The Bigger Picture

Today's post goes along with the one from yesterday.  Goal setting and visualization are just part of the puzzle; you have to have a reason for moving forward.  Ultimately, we need to find a dream -- a passion -- that thing for which we each were uniquely and wonderfully made.

Do you have an Eldorado,

A shining city of gold

That dances on the horizon,

That draws you on so bold?

Why do you rise in the morning?

What makes you take a chance?

What pulls you over the obstacles

Without a second glance?

Is there a dream that fills your mind

And keeps you on your feet

When you look around at others

Slumped in their defeat?

If not, then you must find one

And shape it all your own

Until it fills your waking thoughts

And soaks into your bone.

We're made to strive for better,

To overcome our fears;

We're made to pour into it

Our blood and sweat and tears.

Find your Eldorado,

A passion for your soul,

It will provide the reason

To reach your every goal.

Losing Track of Time

Do you ever lose track of time?  Is there some activity that engages you so completely that you forget lunch or, supper or, even that you need to sleep?  What is that activity that engrosses you so completely you forget where you are?

For some people it is work.  I have worked with a couple of people through the years who would become fixated with solving some problem and would literally work around the clock to come up with an answer.  They were computer programmers.

I recall more than once coming into work to find them asleep with their head on their arms at their desk where they had worked all night to complete some project.  I told them to wake up and go home and get some rest.  Their behavior was driven by multiple factors including:  1) a desire to resolve a problem for a customer, 2) a desire to solve a problem simply to prove they could and 3) a focus on the problem so intent that the passage of time and bodily needs became irrelevant.

I think there are lessons for all of us in such behavior.  1)  We need to find the things about which we are passionate.  2)  We need to hone our desire to meet customer needs.  3)  We need to realize that we can overcome any obstacle if we will zero in on finding solutions.  4)  We need to learn to focus.

I'm usually pretty good with #2 and #3, but fail at #1 and #4.  How about you?  What makes you lose track of time?

Super Bowl Motivation

It's Super Bowl Sunday and I don't care.  I know that a lot of people get excited about the "big game" but, it really doesn't interest me.  I suppose if the Dallas Cowboys had made it, I might make some effort to watch at least part of it, but it is just "noise" to me.

I saw that tickets for the game were around $3,000 apiece and higher.  I can't imagine paying that kind of money to be "entertained" -- especially when I can watch it on television for free (I'll pay the cable bill whether the game is on or not so, there is no extra charge incurred for watching the game.)  How can people afford the tickets let alone the outrageous prices that will be charged by hotels in Atlanta for the big night?  I'm sure that rates which normally would be in the $120 to $150 range will soar to the $300 to $500 range or even higher.  Of course there are also travel and meal expenses to include.

For those who stay home and make a party of watching the game, at least there is the value of fellowship with friends.  That would make it redeemable.  Often such events are something of a potluck type of affair.  I'm not a particularly "social" person so they don't hold much appeal to me, but it is a good excuse for many to have a party.

The outcome of the game this year is controversial even before it begins.  A particularly widely questioned call in one of the playoff games has caused many to protest quite loudly that the system is rigged.  I don't know.  It looked like a bad call to me, but we all face "bad calls" in life.  It happens.  Get over it.

It's too bad people don't get as excited about things that really matter as they do about the Super Bowl.  There are plenty of issues facing this country and the rest of the world that need attention of "super bowl" intensity, but are ignored.  It's probably because of the general affluence of the majority of people.  When you have plenty to eat, a warm bed, a closet full of clothes, a $1000 cell phone, a $30,000 car to drive -- you know, the necessities in life -- why get excited about the problems around you?

We are "wired" to be passionate about something.  I think too often that passion is misdirected to things that allow us to "escape" the realities around us -- the need for caring about others.  We are so self-focused, we don't see the suffering of people both here and around the world.  Jesus saw the hurting around Him and ministered to those in need.  He asked us to do the same.

Many verses come to mind as I write this:

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." -- Psalm 37:4

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness amon the people." -- Matthew 4:22

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." -- Matthew 9:36

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sik and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." -- Matthew 25:35-36

...and many more.  The theme of caring for the poor and needy is common both in the old and new testaments.  It was emphasized as expected of God's people, but clearly not the means of salvation.  Jesus alone is the means of salvation.  "For God so loved the world He gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but, have eternal life." -- John 3:16

"I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me." -- John 14:6

That is something about which we should truly get excited.  Let it be our passion to share The Truth to others.

Only the Few

One can easily be lulled
By the sameness of each day
Into lethargy.

The challenge is to break
The numbing, unchanging,
With imagination.

To soar on dreams that define
A pathway from the valley,
So desirable;

To execute the steps that lead
Inevitably toward the prize
Is commendable.

Few are meant to stand
On accolades so dear
In adoration

As the toil of dreary sameness
Is replaced by the fire
Of passion.

What Drives You?

What are you passionate about?
Is there something that drives you?
Is there something that consumes most of your energy?
What is it that makes you want to get up in the morning?

Where is your focus?
Do you have an all-consuming fire?
What fills your thoughts?
What makes you forget sleep?

Seek to be passionate about something that is worthy of passion.
Share your passion with others.
Be a leader, a mentor, a keeper of the flame.
Live with passion.

If you would like, share what you passion is in the comments.

Passion

When one is passionate
About his job
It isn't necessarily work.

When one is passionate
About a hobby or talent
He contributes to his art.

When one is passionate
About a cause
He can make a difference.

When one is passionate
About God
He can change the world.