Passion for purpose

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a firm believer in the concept of divine purpose. I could’ve tapered this to speak of purpose in and of itself in an attempt to paint with a broad brush but that would not be faithful to my fundamental values. I believe strongly in God, the God of the Bible; not a “Supreme Intelligence” or “Ubiquitous force” or any of the myriad “learned” qualifications with which man has attempted to define Him. Rather I believe in the living, thinking, feeling God. I believe that He created man in the beginning and that “…before he formed (him) in the belly, He knew (him)”. I’m persuaded that a distinctive path is laid out for every partaker of this transient humanity that leads to the realization of a defined and common goal, and it behooves us to find this path and walk it with integrity.

In the words of Karl Jaspers “However minute a quantity the individual may be among the factors that make history, he is a factor” – and a definite factor at that. If definite, then it follows that we can only grasp our authentic being through deliberate and disciplined devotion to the dictates of our purpose. The first step of course is finding that purpose, and therein lays the problem. In doing this, I have always defaulted to the question “what is your passion?” This is the question that indirectly inspired my current train of thought. It started when I saw my friends’ status message on facebook. It read “looking for my muse. Where art thou?” He’d been saddled with the responsibility of managing a large project for a large enterprise and suddenly found himself going through each day feeling languid and dull, a familiar feeling indeed.

My question is, should the pursuit of meaning be hinged on something as dreadfully erratic as passion? I was initially inclined to question the validity of a passion that was prone to dwindling but the honest-to-God truth is this – people burn out. It happens every day and more so when a person possesses broad general interests. When the focal point of your passion changes, particularly when it is a radical change, does it connote a change in purpose? Is purpose particular? I believe so. I believe that passion is a choice and can be fired up or left to flicker out. Were it not a choice we would spend our entire lives flitting from one thing to another and spreading ourselves thin. A defined purpose helps us discover “the decisive point” and focus on it.

To live an effective life, one must devote himself continually to defining that “decisive point” to the minutest detail and to gradually direct all activities towards hitting that mark. The catch is that it is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. That’s where most people stumble. Passion is a choice. Self-discipline is a choice. Attitude is a choice. Love is a choice.
Once, in a Bible prophecy that talked about the Jews’ apathy towards God, God said “…there is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of me”. Even that is a choice. Inspiration is a trap Ohakim (that’s my friend. I know he’ll read this). The control of the sensibilities is a major distinguishing point of a leader. When you lack passion, ignite it. As for me, remember what I said when you were going on about needing a muse? Well, she’s my muse right now. And she said she adores me. Hah! Life is good. :-D

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” - Victor Frankl