What Is Passion?

(In today’s post, I’ve asked my husband, an ex-fighter pilot with a love for fighter planes, to contribute his views on Passion. He has been the source of my support in asking me to follow my dreams. This is his maiden blog post and written to encourage readers to find their passion)….

What is passion? Why is it important? How does it relate to daily life? How does it relate to abundance? My wife often wonders over these questions. We also realise that many of our friends are not happy in their jobs or work because they basically do not like what they are doing. To which, I often believe, that the root problem lies in not knowing what one’s passion is and/or deciding not to pursue it.

Passion As Described In The Books

According to the dictionary, passion is “An intense desire or enthusiasm about something”.

From books about great company cultures like “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, to books about outstanding individuals like “Success Built to Last” by Jerry Porras and to books about attracting success and abundance like “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” by Deepak Chopra, you can find some common themes. One of them is passion.

In the book “Good to Great”, companies that were passionate about their products seemed to do well. In the book “success built to last”, individuals that overcame adversity had the attribute about being passionate about what they did, that made them persevere, or endure the challenges and pain. In Deepak Chopra’s book, the seventh law is the Law of the Purpose of Life. While this is not exactly passion, my interpretation links passion with purpose of life, in relation to service to humanity, in whatever small ways one can accomplish.

My Burning Passion

The way I would put it, is something that resonates strongly with your being. For me, it was about resonating strongly with flight.

Since I was a little boy, watching jet fighters gave me an intense thrill, an indescribable feeling of excitement, the source of many day dreams. I would read about them, make aircraft models, go and watch airshows.

Even when I had to wear glasses at age 10, I never gave up the dream of becoming a fighter pilot. I read the Bates method of eye exercises and diligently applied it. I was conscious about not straining my eyes and refused to put on glasses especially if I did not need them.

At 18, I tried to join the air force, but could not get in because they still required perfect eyesight. I joined the army instead, went to Sandhurst, and then to London University. It was then that I found out that the eyesight requirements had been relaxed.

I applied again for entry, and finally made it to the air force! I could still remember my happiness, after the many times of having felt disappointment. And the amazing thing was that after I joined the airforce, my eyesight also became perfect!

I ended up flying F16s, commanding a squadron, before I left the airforce. All through this period, I saw the purpose in what I was doing: I was serving to protect my country, my family and friends. With that purpose, I was pretty much inspired to cultivate some of the highest standards in honor, duty, success and teamwork.

Challenges While Holding On To Passion

While I had left my previous job, I had a new wish: to do my own thing. I decided to run my own business and use my expertise and knowledge to become a consultant in the military aviation industry. I was presented the option of flying for a commercial airline but I realised that my passion had never been to be a commercial pilot. Sure, it would have paid the bills and my family would have a comfortable lifestyle but I was never one to work for money alone.

For the first 2 years, after having starting my consultancy business, I sweated and worried about the cash flow. It was a trying period. I worried about competition, about what they were doing, and whether they were saying bad things about me. It was pure agony. Then I read the books mentioned at the beginning of the article, and learnt that I should not worry about the competition, or the money, but to focus on my passion.

I started working on shifting my paradigm. I worked at letting go of my worries, in believing that I had abundance, and to focus on what I enjoy in my work. In relaxing, I found that I became more positive. Although I still had lots to do in terms of working on my mental stresses, I am nonetheless, convinced of the current path I am taking.

My wife would often tell me of her challenges in running her sites, and I would often remind her to follow her passion and to view difficulties from a learning perspective.

“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”

Seeking Out Your Passion

For some years back, my wife would often agonise that she did not know what her passion was. In the process of her discovery, she found out these truths…..

“Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” santiz Earl Nightingale quotes

The only way I could describe it is: a passion is what resonates with your being, something you feel good doing, something that you can spend many hours on and still be happy at and something that has a powerful purpose to it.

It may take time to find out what your passion is. Contrary to what many believe, following a passion does not mean that you would necessarily be poor because of it. In fact, when you find meaning in what you do, feeling happy and purposeful, you are already abundant.

A pilot’s business is with the wind, and with the stars, with night, with sand, with the sea. He strives to outwit the forces of nature. He stares with expectancy for the coming of the dawn the way a gardener awaits the coming of spring. He looks forward to port as a promised land, and truth for him is what lives in the stars. — Antoine de Saint Exupéry, “Wind, Sand, and Stars,” 1939

Happy searching!

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