The Power of Positive Passion

What is passion? How do you get it? How do you use it? Well the definition of passion has many meanings and that's why I put positive in the title. Passion is intense overpowering emotion or enthusiasm for something or some activity or even someone. It's also a sudden burst of emotion such as rage or anger, this would be negative and definitely not helpful for what I'm talking about.

When we want something in life or feel strongly toward something it usually will generate some form and degree of passion. What we must do is to make sure we channel and use this passion positively in order to keep us moving toward our goals and targets. Allowing it to stir up negative forces within us will only hurt us. As a child I faced great pain and suffering. I lost my father to suicide, my mother to crack cocaine, and my childhood to hurtful and scarring comments such as you will never amount to anything and you're a failure. My stepfather used to to tell me these things constantly and those comments pierced my heart as a young boy and I still to this day remember vividly those words.

I've sense then forgiven him for this but I will always remember how that has changed me forever. When that happened I developed a lot of anger and frustration and always tried to "prove" myself. I later realized that my self worth and importance did not have to come from proving myself to anybody. However it has made me stronger and has helped me realize a lot about human psychology and the effects that emotions have on us and our thoughts.

After my experiences through childhood I then faced again life-changing circumstances as an adult that helped me grow even more as a human being. After this I began to develop a passion within me to want to help others. We can reach monumental success in many areas of our life but I believe there is something deeper within us that we want to achieve that gives us fulfillment and true happiness. I know when I help someone else I become energized. Just the feeling that you get from inspiring someone else when helping them see through the problems and trials they face is amazing.

I've developed a deep passion to help others and inspire them to greatness through sharing my story with them and the world. I used to think that sharing my story would be bragging and then I was embarrassed about it and didn't want people to know "my business". Since then I've realized that sharing my story is neither; only an opportunity to inspire, motivate, and teach others to reach within themselves for the passion and power to make it through and find the opportunities that lay within the circumstances at hand. Napoleon Hill, a fantastic writer about the power of thoughts and motivation wrote in his book Think and Grow Rich, "every adversity has within it the seed of equal or greater benefit."

This quote is powerful because it makes you sit back and look at your circumstances completely after letting the initial feelings and emotions fade. Sometimes we get so caught up with how we feel initially it clouds our minds and judgment and we miss the opportunity it creates. Dreams, purpose, effort, responsibility, circumstances, character, faith, and balance are all interconnected in your quest for greatness. We all have the seeds of personal growth within us, but only a few ever recognize the important role circumstances play in nurturing those seeds to trees of opportunity.

Now some of you may think well if emotions are temporary how then can we develop the passion for something? Well passion used for good purposes and derived from solid principles in your life will remain plentiful. You will "draw from the well" that power and strength needed to continue to move you toward your goal or target no matter what storms you face. It's that internal drive or motivation within you that will keep you going. It is true that we have feelings and emotions that are temporary and our thoughts create those feelings and emotions that drive our actions and then results. So it's very important that you use those principles to combine them with the right thoughts that drive your passion and emotion which will bring you to your results or outcome.

Whatever that may be that drives the passion within you it needs to be a worthwhile goal in order to bring you fulfillment. Use positive passion to your advantage and watch your life begin to change in whatever area you apply it to. Always be a student of yourself, never stop learning and growing. After my father's suicide I felt hopeless. I ran away from home at 16 and never came back. I look at my life now 11 years after that and I'm light years away from where I was mentally, physically, emotionally, and in every aspect of my life.

I'm in college obtaining a finance degree, I have two beautiful children, great professional success and life keeps getting better. God has truly blessed me. The greatest motivational book I ever read was the bible. You can find many writings within in it that mirror some of the great writings of our time about motivation and thought. In Philippians 4:8 (New Testament) Paul said, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

To giveth much is to accomplish much, that is the power of passion.

Dustin Swigart

Copyright © 2008 by Dustin Swigart