What if passion is a choice?

In a previous post (July 12, 2018), I wrote about The Butler Way  which consists of five principles of the Butler Bulldogs basketball team. (Note: Brad Stevens, former coach and current coach of the Boston Celtics, added a sixth principle to the list.)

These principles have been credited for Butler achieving above expectations on the basketball court, but they also could have the ability to guide the lives of individuals who desire growth off the basketball court.

The second principle from The Butler Way is passion.

Most people define passion as a  strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. Butler defines people who live with passion as individuals who refuse to be lukewarm and who commit themselves to excellence.

To be fully invested to an idea or task, while committing to excellence seems more fitting to the word passion then just a strong feeling or excitement for something.

A person gets excited about Christmas. A person gets excited about getting frozen custard. A person gets excited about the release of a new book or when new episodes drop on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime.

However, passion is greater than that. It’s a stronger feeling because it takes devotion and a commitment to excellence.

I can see why it’s part of The Butler Way, but Butler’s definition differs greatly to the dictionary definition (and to the belief of passion by the rest of society).

We have come to believe passion as something that is merely a feeling. Passion is something that can be elusive, but when found brings us fulfillment. From a young age, we are told to chase our passion. When we pursue it and find it then we will be happy in life and work.

But what if passion is not hiding? What if it is not something that can be or should be pursued? What if it really isn’t an elusive feeling that we salivate for and long for and drive ourselves mad with regret and unhappiness if we don’t find it?

What if Butler is correct and living with passion is a choice?

Maybe we’re not playing a game of hide-and-seek. Maybe we are just supposed to refuse to be lukewarm and commit ourselves to excellence in whatever it is we do. 

That is passion. A choice. Not an elusive quest. A choice.

One of my favorite scenes from the 2001 movie Serendipity was when Dean Kansky (an obituary writer for the New York Times, played by Jeremy Piven) was talking to Jonathan Trager (his best friend, played by John Cusack) about Jonathan’s life and heartbreak. Dean was trying to encourage his friend when he said, “You know the Greeks didn’t write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: ‘Did he have passion?’”

The same question that Butler asks about their recruits. The same question we should ask about ourselves, at the end of every day.

As a business woman, a parent, a teacher, a minister, a spouse, a neighbor, a patron, or whatever it is that you do every day, did you have passion?

Do you refuse to be half-hearted and choose to fully commit to excellence? Do I? Because that is passion.

It’s not elusive. It’s a choice.

If we make that choice, life gets sweeter and more fulfilled; but it’s our choice.

[I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about this post. Use the comment section below or click here to tell your story.]