I tend to have a bout of introspection at the oddest times. Today it just so happened while I was on the elliptical reading an interesting history book. The word Passion was used to describe early followers of Buddhism in Japan. Their Passion led to people going to great lengths to accomplish their ideals. This got me to thinking about my goals and where I was going, and to look at where I had come from.
There is the saying that goes something like “You don’t know how far you have come until you look back at where you have been”, something like that. Roughly until you look at the road you have traveled so far you won’t realize how far you have actually traveled down the road.
What struck me though while I was thinking about the journey is how far I had gotten with little, perceived by me, effort. It was Passion that had gotten me to where I am. I’ll be honest I don’t feel I am very far down the road in learning Japanese, but I realized I can read fairly quickly hirigana and katakana. I can figure out sentences I am reading by knowing kanji meanings and understanding grammar. I realized I am further than I thought I was, and I got here with Passion.
Again how I got there confused because I constantly see how I can improve and I am lacking in my studying, but it is Passion that has gotten me here. I have developed a Passion for learning Japanese so it makes learning the langauge fairly “simple”. Learning Japanese has become a daily part of my life simply because I have the Passion to learn it, and I don’t care what it takes to learn it.
This seems to be a universal truth too. When reading autobiographies and Biographies of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Lee Iaccoca, and many other people. They all had one thing in common. Passion. They didn’t necessarily care about money or fame for the most part. They loved what they did/do and making money was just a side benefit. You see this in software development world too. Some people you just ask a question and you easily can sit there for the next hour listening about 1 topic because it is there passion.
So the next question is, is what you want/are doing your passion? If not, why not? is it a step towards another passion? If so then what you are doing now should be your passion too.
If you want to make something your passion all you need to do is do it, seriously. Do what you want to do figure out how you are going to do it or get what you want. Make it not a question of if, but when. I have no doubt in my mind that I will learn Japanese its just a matter of when. There was no doubt in Khatsumoto’s mind he was going to learn Japanese it was just a matter of time.
It is possible to turn something into a passion, just do it. make it a part of your daily life somehow. If you want to learn Japanese then get up first thing in the morning and do a couple of cards in your anki deck or a round on smart.fm. If you want to ride cross country on a bicycle start learning about bicycles and start riding if nowhere else than around the block. If you want to get in shape start walking more. Make what you want to do a part of your daily life it is much easier than you might think you just have to want to do it. Develop your Passion for it.
So it is time to ask the question.
Is it a matter of if or when? (feel free to answer in the comments.)
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Truly inspiring, you're absolutely right, if you are doing anything that you're not passionate about it's a waste of time. I know that I have a few passions, one of them Japanese, and if you're passionate and you like something, than it becomes much easier to do