It’s All About Passion – The Emotion That Can Take You From Feeling Ordinary to Becoming Extraordinary
- 4 days ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Chifuyu is a therapeutic counsellor and an RTT practitioner. She uses a unique way of counselling with the knowledge of how the body/mind works, Rapid Transformational Therapy skills, and the gift of intuition to help you realize your long-term false beliefs and overcome who you learned to be.
Passion can be defined in many different ways. It can be described as a great, passionate love between lovers. It can be a way of talking about your hobby. Often, the emotion of passion is perceived as something you love pursuing. This is all very true. So, let’s think about this. Why do we have this emotion called passion? For what reason? Is it to please the loved ones in your life with the showcase of your hobby? Is it to bring the flame of love into the relationship with your partner? Or is it simply to express the next level of care and fun you put into everything you love? All might be applicable. But there is one important role passion plays in your life. Let’s talk about this emotion that ignites the shining star within you.
Do you have passion?
Does everyone have passion? Yes. Everyone is capable of feeling passionate about something. Does everyone follow their passion? Not necessarily. Passion is very underrated. In our modern society, you are told that what you are passionate about does not give you a way of living. Yet successful people often succeed because they pursue their passions. There seems to be some discrepancy there. The opposite can also be true. Pursuing your passion does not guarantee success. Sometimes attachment to passion can go very wrong. So now that I’ve got you all very confused, we can talk about how you can actually ignite your passion and fulfill your dreams.
First, passion can be found in many different things in your life, and it is quite different for each of you. It starts with a unique curiosity within. It can be as deceiving as “only” a hobby, or it can sometimes look like a distraction from schoolwork. Parents must love this when you do it. But it is a curiosity that makes you want to pursue it more and more, with utter joy and love. The book “The Spark*” describes a boy’s unique curiosity, hidden beneath a diagnosis, revealed by his mother’s passion. Kristine Barnett’s story is extraordinary. When her son was given a diagnosis, she did not just hit the wall of life obstacles. Many would feel crushed by it. But she didn’t. She crushed the wall instead. Out of love, out of passion, out of all in which she could believe.
Through her pursuit of her son Jacob’s curiosity, she figured it out. His mind was not lost to autism. It was lost in his deep curiosity. He is said to have an IQ higher than Einstein’s. But no one could have foreseen that when Jacob stopped talking completely at one point in his life. No one, except this deeply caring mother, who trusted her own insights gained from her passion for caring for other children at her own daycare. She was extraordinary in finding what children are curious about and what they love. She nurtured their passion, which soon became evident in how extraordinary they became through it. Her passion and determination led to hard work, and with it, she brought her son back to light.
What would you call that? The emotion that pushed her to trust her insights and trust her son when everyone, even specialists, advised against her? This is passion. Something that ignited within. Thomas Edison quoted,[1] “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” While he did not technically fail exactly 10,000 times, he experimented repeatedly until one day he finally succeeded. His curiosity turned into persistence, determination, and a great passion to fulfill the dream he ignited.
Now, I am not saying we all have to fail 10,000 times, persist endlessly, and disregard everything else in life. No. But what I want to say is that passion starts with curiosity. And when you start digging into that curiosity, you begin to experience fun and joy. Soon, it ignites a light within you, keeping you focused on it. Sometimes it becomes an obsession. But a healthy obsession. That is passion, combined with determination and patience. And often, people accomplish mastery. Trust your insight and follow what you are drawn to with great curiosity. Unfortunately, this is not something that is taught in many schools.
When nothing else matters
So now, we have established that passion starts with curiosity. You can be curious at any age. Sometimes people find their passion at a much later stage in life. As kids, we were curious about a lot of different things, weren’t we? Some kids love building LEGO. Some love reading. Some cannot get enough of playing outside. How do you know which leads to your passion? The answer is all of them. Any curiosity can turn into passion.
Passion can also align with what you are good at, many times. When you are curious about something, you start to do more of it or learn more about it. If you experience fun and joy while doing it, you start doing more and loving it more. You forget how much time you are spending on it. This is why you get really good at what you are passionate about very quickly.
I talked about how determination often goes hand in hand with passion. If you are curious about something but not determined or focused on learning and doing more, passion soon fades. Also, if you have determination, you will not necessarily listen to the naysayers. If someone shares their opinion against it and you accept it, passion stops. How many times have we been told that our passion will not make money? How many times have we been told that our passion has nothing to do with achieving greatness, or that we should keep it as a hobby? Whatever it is, if you keep your passion alive through it all and decide that nothing matters except your passion, then, only then, can you start lighting up your shining star.
Although the world seems to be changing now. Those who pursue what they love out of passion succeed, no matter what they pursue. Those who did not listen to others’ opinions are succeeding. These notions have not really changed, but we now have many more platforms to share our passion. There are many YouTubers who make plenty of money. A website like Etsy can showcase your creativity and allow you to share your gift with people. You can pursue your hobby and make money from it. This proves that the world as we know it is shifting, slowly but surely. People are increasingly finding that when they listen to others instead of their own voices, they remain ordinary. More than ever, you need the guidance of your passion to lead you to where you really want to be, becoming extraordinary.
The reason for having passion
Other than the obvious reason of having extreme fun and enthusiasm, why do we need passion? Passion guides you on the path to the extraordinary. That is why you need it. And when you become extraordinary, you naturally want to serve others with your gift.
Becoming extraordinary does not mean you need to become popular or famous, or extremely successful. Being passionate does not mean you need to feel excited all the time or pour all your energy into one thing. Even though I said it ignites your shining star within, you can have quiet passion as well.
A mom who is extraordinary at housework, juggling all the kids’ activities, helping at school, and supporting her family and relatives. She is completely engaged with her children and loves every second of it. An office worker who is extraordinary at solving any problems or issues that customers bring in. He even gets excited when he receives calls. Another problem. How will he solve it this time? What tools can he use?
The key to passion is curiosity and a desire to do and learn more, and, of course, to have fun while doing it. When you listen to your own voice and start listening to your heart’s desire, you can easily find your own guidance. Passion and curiosity are the guides.
Notice that I am always talking about emotions, not just thoughts. Thoughts do nothing unless you have emotions. But if you do not have thoughts, you can still feel emotions. You may not be able to label them without words, but you either feel good or bad, positive or negative. Feeling good means you are on the right path. Feeling bad means you are off the path. It is not wrong, it simply tells you that you are off life’s red carpet. So emotions are essential. Every curiosity counts.
One child I know can name every single street that city buses travel on. He knows all the bus routes and all the train stations. He is a living Google map of the city. How? Because he likes buses and trains. He was curious. He kept learning more about them. He spent many hours looking at bus routes and bus numbers. It was fun for him. His parents took him on bus rides every weekend. He followed his curiosity, which made him want to learn more and more. He had so much fun doing it that he became extraordinary at it.
His parents did not stop him. They did not make him do something else instead. They did not tell him, “That does nothing for you.” They nurtured his curiosity. What will he do with his extensive knowledge? We do not know yet. But he certainly knows that curiosity turns into passion, and following his passion brings him joy and pleasure.
He has many other subjects he is curious about. He does not realize how all of this is stimulating his brilliant brain. He now knows how to have fun with curiosity. He enjoys learning. He can have passion in his life. He knows what types of buses and trains exist. And for now, his dream is to design and build cars and buses. One thing we know for sure is that one day, his passion will turn into something that does great good for the world.
If you don’t know what ignites you
What if you don’t know what your passion is? Then what? Many people might be in the same boat. Again, it’s because your curiosity or passion gets shut down when it doesn’t align with your schoolwork. Adults mean well, and they probably also don’t want to see you stressed or sad if your passion fails in any way. Especially parents. They love their children. But parents sometimes worry so much about their children that they forget what children want the most. They want to have fun. They want to learn what they want to learn. They want to pursue what they love.
Take Paulo Coelho,[2] for example. His parents locked him in a psychiatric hospital, and he even went through electroshock therapy so that he would change his mind and become a lawyer or engineer. He never gave up on freedom. He even walked 500 miles to rediscover his passion. What did he achieve after all this? He wrote “The Alchemist.”
So, it’s completely fine if you can’t seem to find your passion yet. You just need to listen to your own insight. If your parents gave you electroshock therapy, well, I guess you can go walk 500 miles.
What are you curious about? What are you interested in? What do you like better, writing, reading, or drawing? Anything that you like slightly better than the other subjects. Whenever you have that “Oh, this is interesting” or “I wonder if I can learn more about this,” you need to try something new. Go somewhere new. Meet someone new. Unless you meet your curiosity, you can’t develop or find passion.
Instead of autopiloting through the day, focus on what you do. What are you good at? What are you drawn to more? Do you enjoy cooking or baking? Is it more fun to walk in nature or take a yoga class? Do you tend to go on a short trip by yourself, or go on a month-long trip with a group of friends? It doesn’t matter what you are curious about or what you like. Remember, it’s about having fun.
When you enjoy learning, you can aim for mastery. That’s what becoming extraordinary is, isn’t it? Passion is love for mastery. And the coolest thing is that every single person on this planet has a different passion and a unique potential for mastery. This is why the world is so unique and diverse.
Passion equals fun, excitement, love
The emotion we label “passion” is felt in your body, just as excitement, fun, and love are, all combined. How wonderful is this? Have you noticed that whatever passion brings is a whole lot of fun? And it’s almost as if you enjoy every step of the way while learning about it.
When you can feel all these wonderful emotions combined, how could anyone tell you this isn’t good for you? Sure, it might not be profitable right away, and you probably have to keep your day job for now. But that’s not even a part of the passion equation. It’s not so much about making money or becoming successful, although this seems to happen as a result of following your passion many times.
As I said, passion is love for mastery. When you love learning what you are curious about and enjoy the process of it, you become extraordinary. That is the formula of passion. As a result of becoming extraordinary, you get to serve others with it. That’s right. You get to make a difference in the world, whatever it is.
It’s not a matter of how many people you serve. Whether you serve one person, a community, or even a whole country, it is a service that comes from your heart. That’s what passion gives you. If you love what you do and serve others with it, you don’t expect anything from them because your actions come from your heart. When anything comes from your heart, you feel satisfied just by taking action.
This ends up creating a win-win situation. The first win is your positive emotions. Passion brings you love, excitement, and contentment. The first win is always there when you follow your passion. The second win is others’ positive emotions. You do not need to aim for it, nor do you need to get it every time. But you always have to guard the first win because this guarantees that you don’t do things just to keep people happy when you are not.
You don’t want to sacrifice your good feelings or suppress your discomfort to do things for others. This is the exact reason people create resentment, pressure, or forced circumstances for themselves. Remember, passion equals fun, excitement, and love. No stress there!
We are here to serve
It all comes down to this. We love doing things for others, creating something for others, or helping and supporting others. It is a human’s innate desire. This is the exact reason there are a whole bunch of humans in this world, to share and enjoy what we create.
You all must have experienced it. Didn’t you love helping your mom sweep the floor or wash the dishes when you were little? I know, we all grew out of that phase as soon as they became “chores,” sucking all the fun out of it. But you still probably volunteered for something, or helped your friends.
Your passion amplifies your ability to help. You don’t just get to help, but you get to showcase your great talent while you completely enjoy the journey of becoming extraordinary. Hopefully, you don’t need to wait until you are much older, like Master Roshi,[3] to become a master of what you love. You can start now, whatever fancies your curiosity.
Remember, you need to love learning, get excited about it, and have fun. It doesn’t matter what. One thing you need to be mindful of is that playing games might not necessarily be your passion. Most kids nowadays say they love playing games and that it’s their passion. Just because you’ve only played games all your young life doesn’t mean that’s the only passion you have.
The key is to explore first. Go experience something new. Pick up a random subject and read it. Pay attention to what makes you think, “Mmm, I need to dig in a little more.” There are so many places to visit, so many challenges to solve, so many new products to create. Possibilities are endless. All you need to do is be curious.
I’m no expert in writing, but I do love writing. I could probably write better in my mother tongue, but I’m sure you get my message about passion. It’s quite simple. We are here to experience. Enjoy our lives. Expose ourselves to something new and unpredictable.
We all have something extraordinary within. Find yours. It’s definitely in you. No lame excuse of “I don’t have passion.” You are born with it. And let’s make this world a better place, serving one person at a time. And it starts with serving yourself.
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Chifuyu Casaclang, Therapeutic Counsellor/ RTT Practitioner
Chifuyu is a therapeutic counsellor and an RTT practitioner. She uses a unique way of counselling with the knowledge of how the body/mind works, Rapid Transformational Therapy skills, and the gift of intuition to help you realize your long-term false beliefs and overcome who you learned to be. She has this absolute “knowing” that everyone is more than capable of becoming the “extraordinary”. Believing in yourself is the key to transforming yourself. You are what you believe. Chifuyu guides your journey of discovering and mastering yourself through overwriting your false beliefs. Above all, she shows you how to have fun in the process, on your way to becoming your “ideal” self.
References:
[1] “The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius” by Kristine Barnett
[2] Paulo Coelho, Facebook article by Story Capsule
[3] Master Roshi, a character of an old martial arts master in the comic book “Dragon Ball” by Akira Toriyama
