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[Temba is my cat. He has rid the racing stables of all rodents and is now feted by the grooms and jockeys whenever he appears there. He is now hunting down little furry bunnies who hop too far from home.]

[Inspired by a Doobie Brothers song]

[Inspired by posts at Cheap Tart's site]

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The secret to being passionate about anything you do is to understand what being passionate means. Do too many people claim to be ‘passionate’ about this vocation or that type job? Are they really, or is it just a vogue term to use on the CV or to drop into conversation to make you appear more appealling to the audience?

How do you know you are passionate about whatever it is you claim to be passionate about? Is there a passion measuring stick? A passion barometer? A passion litmus paper test? Another question to be asked is where do you draw the line on passion? How deep or far do you go before passion is surpassed by ‘manic’, ‘committed or ‘dedicated’ and worst of all OCB (Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour)? Or is passion ever surpassed by anything other than itself so that you attain the next level in passionatism and become passionate size L, next to size XL and on to XXL and then the ‘bespoke’ passion?

Where does passion end? More importantly for me is, where does it begin?

Does it begin with a commitment within you that you will be as determined as heck and drive yourself to do the ultimate best you and your abilities and talents can do? Or is ‘passion’ derived out of a need to succeed? Like a type A person’s need to win all the time?

Here is what I dredged up from Google for a search to define ‘passion’:

Definitions of passion on the Web:

• strong feeling or emotion

• heat: the trait of being intensely emotional

• rage: something that is desired intensely; “his rage for fame destroyed him”

• mania: an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action

• a feeling of strong sexual desire

• love: any object of warm affection or devotion; “the theater was her first love”; “he has a passion for cock fighting”;

• the suffering of Jesus at the crucifixion

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The “Passion narratives” tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context. All the other meanings of “passion” have been derived from this one.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion

• Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ is a musical album produced in 1989 by Peter Gabriel. It was originally composed as the soundtrack for the film The Last Temptation of Christ, but Gabriel spent several months after the film’s release further developing the music, finally releasing it as a full-fledged album instead of a “movie soundtrack”.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(album)

• Passion is a musical play, first staged on Broadway in 1994, adapted from Ettore Scola’s film Passione d’Amore (which was, in its turn, based on Igino Tarchetti’s novel Fosca). The book was by James Lapine and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Central themes include obsession, beauty, power, manipulation, passion, illness, and love

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(musical)
• In psychology and common use, emotion is the language of a person’s mental state of being, normally based in or tied to the person’s internal (physical) and external (social) sensory feeling. Love, hate, courage, fear, joy, sadness, pleasure and disgust can all be described in both psychological and physiological terms. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(emotion)
• Jenny Calendar manages to translate the spell to restore a vampire’s soul, but Angel kills her before she has a chance to use it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(Buffy_episode)
• Passion is the third album by British pop singer Geri Halliwell, relased on June 6, 2005 (see 2005 in music), in Europe only. It has not received a North American release.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(Geri_Halliwell_album)
• One of the seven modes. Its positive pole is self-actualization; its negative pole is identification. In passion mode, one releases one’s energy boundlessly, downward and outward.
www.summerjoy.com/Glossary.html
• A musical setting of the story of the events leading to the Crucifixion.
www.wku.edu/~smithch/music/glossnew.htm
• The 4 accounts of the suffering and death of Christ (from the Gospel)
www.classic99.com/terms4b.htm
• The last stage of the development of sin. The stages of sin are: provocation through the thoughts, joining, assent, desire, action and passion. Passion is a repeated action which dominates man. In ascetic theology the movement of the powers of the soul contrary to nature is called passion.
www.pelagia.org/htm/b01.en.a_night_in_the_desert_of_the_holy_mountain.09.htm
• an upright or vertical bar crossed near the top by a shorter horizontal bar
www.culture.gr/2/21/218/e21817.html
• the Force of emotions and feelings. Governed by Venus, Goddess of Passion.
woodelf.dyndns.org/alfresco/gloss.html
• An oratorio dealing specifically with the crucifixion of Christ.
remus.rutgers.edu/~rhoads/Fun/music.terms.html
• The sufferings of Christ, especially in the agony of the garden and on the cross
www.innvista.com/culture/religion/diction.htm
• Strong, enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance.
definitions.highperformanceconsultants.com/definitions.txt
• musical composition based on the texts of Jesus Christ’s Passion, taken from one of the four Gospels. In the XII century the Passion was performed as a representation; the three main parts, Christ (bass), the Narrator (baritone) and “Turba Judaeorum” (tenor), were performed by three priests. Later on, a choir which answered to the soloists was introduced. In the XVII century the passion was enriched with all the innovations of the dramatic theater: orchestra, air, recitative.. …
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/3825/classdiction.htm

Passion

There are many ways to define passion. Dictionary definitions include “ardor, powerful intense emotion, great enthusiasm for something, sexual love, a longing for something that promises enjoyment and satisfaction.”

What makes a person passionate? We’re not talking about sexual passion per se, but a physical and emotional energy that sustains us and keeps us going, even in the face of adversity. How can you become passionate about life, about what you do every day?

“We tend to define passion as coming from outside ourselves, but day-to-day passion comes from within and requires special skill,” says Robert Maurer, Ph.D., a behavioral health provider who travels extensively giving seminars on personal happiness and success.

“It is based on an understanding of our wants and a firm belief in our entitlement to those wants. If we’re going to stay passionate about our wants, we have to know what they are (often a surprisingly difficult task) and then hold true to them when obstacles arise.”

Confidence, enthusiasm, energy and strong beliefs are often the hallmarks of passion. Do you believe in what you do? Do you have clearly defined goals and wants? Do you keep going even in the face of adversity? These are just some of the elements that define a passionate person. Dr. Maurer maintains that passion and enthusiasm do not come when you achieve success — they are necessary fuel to create and maintain success.

The first and most important step is to identify and become clear about your wants and goals. Dr. Maurer suggests these strategies:

Be optimistic. Optimism is an indicator of passion. Believing that there are always choices and taking responsibility are two elements of optimism that play a role in passion.

Identify how you can (or do) contribute to others. Passionate people often view their actions as a service or gift to others, and use it to learn personal lessons; this perspective helps maintain passion.

Take responsibility. Passionate people don’t complain and blame others for problems but take full responsibility for making things better. They believe they can make a difference.

The keys to finding and sustaining passion are to have a clear sense of purpose and destination. Dr. Maurer cites several people, especially those who have used their passion to succeed and make a difference even in the face of adversity, as good examples of passionate people: Christopher Reeve and Toni Morrison, for example.

“It’s how you operate in the world minute by minute that sets you free and creates passion,” notes Dr. Maurer. “Passion is about creating happiness in every moment.”

Passion

If you have read my book, The Complete Chondro, you are already familiar with an important facet of my life – passion. I not only enjoy being passionate about the important things in my life, I also need to be so. I thrive when I am passionate, and without this essential ingredient I can quickly lose interest in something.

You might be surprised to learn that passion is not exactly the same thing as excitement or enthusiasm. Although I might define passion as “excitement combined with commitment”, the word actually means something different, and has a very meaningful origin. The dictionary gives us insight into this, and states that passion refers to “the suffering of Christ between the Last Supper and his crucifixion.” In fact, an early use of the word was “Passion Play,” the name given to theatrical events depicting the death and resurrection of Christ.
pas•sion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pshn)
n.

1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.
2.
1. Ardent love.
2. Strong sexual desire; lust.
3. The object of such love or desire.
3.
1. Boundless enthusiasm: His skills as a player don’t quite match his passion for the game.
2. The object of such enthusiasm: Soccer is her passion.
4. An abandoned display of emotion, especially of anger: He’s been known to fly into a passion without warning.
5. Passion
1. The sufferings of Jesus in the period following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as related in the New Testament.
2. A narrative, musical setting, or pictorial representation of Jesus’s sufferings.
6. Archaic. Martyrdom.
7. Archaic. Passivity.

It makes you think doesn’t it? Next time you use the word ‘passion’ in your conversation use it wisely. I am going to drop this buzzword from my conversations. It is so lame now and sound overused and glib.