Follow your passions”; “Follow your heart.” Most of us are conversant with these sayings especially when it comes to making major life decisions. This is largely correct since life may not feel very fulfilling if one has strayed from where one’s heart is. The meaning of ‘heart’ in this context is very simple as Matthew 6:21 gives clarity on that, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What is this treasure in question? It could be our energy, money, time or some other thing of importance to us.

We have been made to understand that time is our most valuable treasure. In essence, the things we often spend our time doing are the things we have a heart for. Therefore, our passions are those things we have an inner burning desire for, which makes us willing to invest our resources; energy, time and sometimes money, to ensure their actualization. They are the things we would readily do with so much positivity and enthusiasm we could literally stay up past our bedtime or even skip meals without realizing. They feel so natural that we could go about them without seeking a pay or approval from others.

After we have followed our passions, why doesn’t everyone excel in theirs? The truth is, there is more to following one’s passion than majority are aware of. One must be willing to consciously develop the required skills to fully express these passions. For instance, there is no assurance that my being passionate about singing will make me the best singer. It only means I’ll sing at the top of my voice and nearly sing out my lungs most of the day but nothing really changes, just the same old me who keeps singing year in, year out. To attain excellence, what is actually required of me is to get some voice training in a choir or music school, understand more about keys, notes, and all that comes with music. My being passionate about singing makes me practice regularly; it gives me a quest to do more, learn more, become better at it as well as stay committed to it. This is the major role of passion, to influence excellence through motivation.

We should understand, therefore, that having a burning desire towards what we do does not automatically guarantee our excellence in it, rather, it could be a source of motivation towards working hard and being the best we can be at it.

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