I spent many years working with teens and had countless informal counseling sessions during that time. One of the things I often tried to help teens do was draw a distinction between feelings and emotions. Emotions are fleeting, flashes in the pan that come and go, changing with the wind. Feelings, on the other hand, run much deeper and are intricately tied to our experiences, our knowledge, and our basic beliefs and understandings of creation and the creator.
Remember the first time you held the hand of that special someone? Your heart raced and the butterflies in your stomach went crazy! You would have given anything to spend the rest of your life together!
That's an emotion... and it's fleeting. A month later, holding hands doesn't do anything except get your hand all sweaty. What you felt before wasn't love; it was some form of excitement, but nothing deeper than that.
After you've been married for 13 years, you argue once in a while (but quickly forgive), you hold hands without thinking when you're walking into the grocery store, you really enjoy just being in the same room watching TV or reading a magazine, and you can't even imagine what life would be like with anyone else... that's a feeling. It's love that runs deep, is based upon experience, knowledge of the other person, and an understanding of one's own beliefs. At some level, it is also based upon a conscious decision -- a choice -- and we continue to make the choice every day.
As I look at successful people around me, it seems that passion is an emotion, but it stems from a choice that people have made. And the more deep-seated the feelings behind that choice, the more likely it is that passion will erupt.
It is very rare to find someone who is passionate all the time, regardless of their "cause". But when they've chosen their cause in line with their fundamental beliefs, they will continue to succeed even during those times when the passion isn't there. They will keep moving forward, even when most people would lose energy and fizzle out. They will push, and push, and eventually something will change and the passion will return, for at least a while.
Passion is an emotion and is usually fleeting. But if you make your choices based upon what truly matters to you, then you'll have the drive to make it through during times when passion fails. And that is a critical key to success, because feelings should trump emotions every time.
Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Passion!
Passion. It's something you read about all the time. The small business owner who continues to thrive in this down economy. The athlete who does amazing things without the use of performance enhancing drugs. The missionary who braves jungles and armed militia to bring medicine to small villages. All of these people are passionate about what they're doing. They feel so strongly about their chosen endeavor that it gives them strength and energizes them every day when they arise, ready to take on the world all over again!
Passion! That's what we need in order to succeed at following our dreams!
Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Don't you wish you felt that way about something? If you do, that's wonderful, and I'm extremely happy for you. Unfortunately, most people don't have that sort of fire in their souls. And when they do find something to be passionate about, those feelings are often far too fleeting.
Want some concrete examples? Start randomly checking out the blogs available on Blogger.com or other blogging platforms. Go back to their earliest archives, and you'll almost always see a flurry of activity, with tons of posts, links and trackbacks. But as you continue through the archives, witnessing the evolution of the blog, you'll almost certainly see the posts become fewer and farther between... until the posts end altogether. Obviously the blogger started out with passion, but fizzled out in the end.
Is passion sustainable? Are there things we can do to stay passionate about something? Or is there something else that drives people, and passion is merely an outward expression of it?
A few things to think about until next time.
Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon
Passion! That's what we need in order to succeed at following our dreams!
Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Don't you wish you felt that way about something? If you do, that's wonderful, and I'm extremely happy for you. Unfortunately, most people don't have that sort of fire in their souls. And when they do find something to be passionate about, those feelings are often far too fleeting.
Want some concrete examples? Start randomly checking out the blogs available on Blogger.com or other blogging platforms. Go back to their earliest archives, and you'll almost always see a flurry of activity, with tons of posts, links and trackbacks. But as you continue through the archives, witnessing the evolution of the blog, you'll almost certainly see the posts become fewer and farther between... until the posts end altogether. Obviously the blogger started out with passion, but fizzled out in the end.
Is passion sustainable? Are there things we can do to stay passionate about something? Or is there something else that drives people, and passion is merely an outward expression of it?
A few things to think about until next time.
Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon
Monday, March 2, 2009
Can't Buy Happiness
Unhappy and unsatisfied people pay self-help gurus millions of dollars each year in the hopes of becoming wealthy. They don’t pay all that money to become happy and satisfied with their lives. They throw good money after bad in hopes of getting rich and living “the good life”. What makes it such a sad situation is that most of them fail, and none of them really need to do it!
Regardless of how it’s packaged – and I’ll admit it’s packaged attractively – the solution that is usually offered really comes down to making internal changes. It almost always comes down to changing the way we think and feel about our situation, about events that occur, and about the people with whom we interact.
It sounds simple, but it’s certainly not easy, which is why we spend millions and millions of dollars each year to learn how to do it. What I find disheartening is that where we really should be starting is at a local place of worship. When we talk about changing thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, we’re talking the language of faith and spirituality. And the basic help that we need on such a journey is available for FREE!
Sure, you can donate all you want, but most places of worship aren’t going to charge you a membership fee or monthly dues. They’re also not going to lace every sermon with barely veiled plugs for their latest audio program, ebook, or success symposium. Most worship communities don’t list “profit” as their number one goal. In fact, most worship communities only focus on donations so that they can afford the resources necessary to share their message with as many people as possible.
If you find yourself feeling unhappy or unsatisfied, don’t drop $49 on yet another audio program to listen to in your car. Instead, take a trip to your local place of worship, whether it is a church, synagogue, or temple, and get involved. Attend worship services, but also find out about prayer groups or various ministries, and become active in the faith community. That will take you much further along your journey to happiness than any product you get from a self-help guru. You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth saying again: you can’t buy happiness!
Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon Jubar
Regardless of how it’s packaged – and I’ll admit it’s packaged attractively – the solution that is usually offered really comes down to making internal changes. It almost always comes down to changing the way we think and feel about our situation, about events that occur, and about the people with whom we interact.
It sounds simple, but it’s certainly not easy, which is why we spend millions and millions of dollars each year to learn how to do it. What I find disheartening is that where we really should be starting is at a local place of worship. When we talk about changing thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, we’re talking the language of faith and spirituality. And the basic help that we need on such a journey is available for FREE!
Sure, you can donate all you want, but most places of worship aren’t going to charge you a membership fee or monthly dues. They’re also not going to lace every sermon with barely veiled plugs for their latest audio program, ebook, or success symposium. Most worship communities don’t list “profit” as their number one goal. In fact, most worship communities only focus on donations so that they can afford the resources necessary to share their message with as many people as possible.
If you find yourself feeling unhappy or unsatisfied, don’t drop $49 on yet another audio program to listen to in your car. Instead, take a trip to your local place of worship, whether it is a church, synagogue, or temple, and get involved. Attend worship services, but also find out about prayer groups or various ministries, and become active in the faith community. That will take you much further along your journey to happiness than any product you get from a self-help guru. You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth saying again: you can’t buy happiness!
Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon Jubar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)