PASSION,PURPOSE AND PURSUIT

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it” Von Goethe

According to John Ruskin; “No one is without a divinely appointed task and the divine means for getting it done”. The problem with most people however is lack of passion to pursue their task, vision or purpose to a conclusive end. Passion will enable you to keep your daily focus. Passion will enable you to stay committed to the task that will make you bring your vision to reality. Passion for success will help you keep your eye on your predetermined end-result despite the challenges that might come up, which must be surmounted.
Real Life Examples
Thomas Edison (1847-1931), one of the outstanding geniuses in the history of technology tried ten thousand times before he could come out with the right formula that made the electric bulb. There were famous story about him that after he tried nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine times to perfect the light bulb and had not succeeded, someone asked him: “Are you going to have ten thousand failures?” He answered “I did not fail; I just discovered another way not to invent the electric bulk”. He was passionately combined to achieve a break through. If you can hold on long enough, you will definitely break-through! Whatever you want to achieve in life; don’t give up, your success is on the way.
The Wright brothers (Orville and Wibur Wright) persisted with their experiment to invent a machine that could carry human beings and still fly, despite the fact that scientists at that time could not accept such possibility. In 1903 they achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled flight of an airplane, thus ushering in the age of heavier-than-air flight. They were also the first to build and fly a fully practical airplane in 1905. And, because of the pioneering efforts of the Wright brothers, we now have aero planes flying across the globe and other sophisticated machineries like rockets conveying Scientists to the moon. Scientific facts surrounding the issues confronting you can change, if you have the passion and the belief to persist long enough on your task. The Wright brothers did, and the result is evident to all today.
The legendary Greek Orator; Demosthenes, who was born with a speech defect, but later became (albeit arguably) the greatest Orator of all time, cultivated the art of public speaking by going to the shore of the Aegean sea in ancient Greece to strengthens his voice by shouting into the wind for hours at a time. To improve his diction, he practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth. To over-come his fear, he practiced with a sword hanging over his head. To clarify his presentation, he studies the techniques of the master communicators of his time. Today, more than two thousand years later, the name Demosthenes is synonymous with oratorical eloquence.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was a British Statesman and novelist. The first time he made a speech in the House of Commons he was booed off the stage. His maiden effort was such a flop that evens his best friends prophesied he would fade from politics. But Disraeli was determine not be disgraced, so he practiced to master the art of public speaking. He then trained his mind to memorize facts and figures and vowed; “I’ll make them listen to me. When next I talk, they’ll Clamour to hear me again.” And actually the other politicians did listened to him, for he became a great speaker with convincing power and one of the best known British Prime Minister, a friend of Queen Victoria and was raised to the peerage. For many years, he was one of the most influential men in the world, because he had the passion to change his fortune.
Nelson Mandela and his freedom fighters committed their life to the struggle against apartheid i.e. racial segregation in South Africa. They preferred to suffer incarceration because of the course they passionately pursued, than to be a free men in Apartheid South Africa. And they were justified as the wall of apartheid could not stand the resoluteness of the freedom fighters. They had passion for freedom.
The challenges and the eventual success of Abraham Lincoln is another classic example of passion at work. Abraham Lincoln persisted with his vision and political aim despite many defeats, until he became the president of United States of America. At age twenty one, he failed in business. He lost a legislative race at age twenty two. He had another business failure again at age twenty four. He lost his wife at age twenty six and had a nervous breakdown at twenty seven. He contested and lost congressional election at age thirty four and thirty six. He lost senatorial race at age forty five and forty nine, having failed to become vice president at forty seven. Finally, my brethren, because he refused to accept failure as final, he emerged the president of the United States of America at age fifty two. There is power in the passionate pursuit of vision!
Brain Tracy is regarded today as a distinguished and accomplished speaker and writer worldwide, yet he still devotes ten days a year to improve his already prodigious speaking skills. He has the passion to maintain his top level performance despite being one of the best in his field. It takes passion maintain his top level performance despite being one of the best in his field. It takes passion to maintain top level performance for a long period of time.
Finally, Helen Keller (1880 – 1968) despite her visual and hearing impediments helped and inspired many handicapped people. She once said “it is better to have no sight, than it is to have no vision”. Vision is the number one catalyst needed to turn your daily activities into productivity. If a blind woman had vision in her lifetime; what is the problem with you that you cannot wake up to face reality and surmount your challenges?