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What is your passion?

“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted...

Unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us...

Passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred...

And the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” - Joss Whedon

Passion is defined as an intense emotion, a compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something. The term is also often applied to a lively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, or activity or love - to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject, idea, person, or object. It is also a fact of everyday life that passions overwhelm reason time and again. Passion, more often than not, makes it impossible for us to listen to reason. I believe it was Shakespeare’s Hamlet who said “Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s core”. George Bernard Shaw, on the other hand believed and insisted that there are passions far more exciting than the physical ones - “intellectual passion, mathematical passion, passion for discovery and exploration: the mightiest of all passions”’

Thus, passion being so multy-faceted, have you ever wondered what is your passion?

My passions in life have been a truly kaleidoscopic experience. It had bolted hither and thither; changed, altered, fluctuated, metamorphosed, remodeled, shifted, transformed, veered, reverted back; and evolved with the passage of time, and my travels. As a six to ten year old, it was all about getting to either the Sunday Tea Room on Chatham Street and digging in to one of the best ice cream sunday - the taste of its crunchy nuts and chocolate sauce still lingers; or going to Piccadilly, an ice cream parlour opposite Savoy cinema in the fifties, and having their wonderful vanilla ice cream milk shake. Between ten and twelve of age, it was about going to the movies - Tom and Jerry; Laurel and Hardy; Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; the serials and so on and so forth. At the birth of teen; arose and persisted through teenage, the passion for knowledge about the bird and the bees. This passion matured over time, and continues to give untold pleasures to date. I love hanging around people who are passionate. They inspire me, they refire me, they ignite the desire within me to be the very best me that there possibly can be. Passionate people don’t stay long in a rut. They kick them out. And that is why passion will carry you through until the fulfillment of your vision.

There is one thing about passion: nothing great in the world has been accomplished without it. Yet, sadly though, an adult Sri Lankan is hardly passionate about anything. They are, at best, other people; their thoughts are, customarily, someone else’s opinions; their lives a mimicry; their passions a quotation. The burden of life has beaten them into pulp. Their life has no ardour; no fire; no intensity; no rapture; no zeal. If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion - whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you, and you will find great things happen for you, to you and because of you. If you cannot find your passion, then the way to get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. Believe me - when work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible. Never underestimate the power of passion. Hence, develop a passion to serve mankind. If you do, you will never cease to grow. Federico Fellini, the Italian genius of a film maker, used to say: There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.

When one is occupied in the service of mankind - not the kind of service our servants of the people or those taking refuge in the last resort of the scoundrels are involved in - it equates him to god. There is no greater pleasure than that which is derived when you see someone happy as a result of your action. It is true that life is full of pleasures of the varied kind. But, if one has the ability to distinguish between the intensity of pleasures, then one will realize the truth of my statement. Service to mankind does not mean that it excludes ones family. After all, families constitute mankind. But what is needed is the vision to encompass all of mankind into the fold of ones family. When we are able to transform ourselves from a family centric person to a humanity centric personality, we ensure that the world becomes what it was intended to be - a joyous and peaceful place where all life forms are in unity.

Remember that, as a human being, you are unique. Be your passionate self and not an imitation of someone else. Find your passion and use them in a positive way. Do not listen to those who ridicule the choices you make in life. Travel the road you have chosen and do not look back in regret. Take chances to make your dreams happen. Remember that there is plenty of time to travel another road - and still another in your journey through life. Do not be afraid to make mistakes in life, they enhance your experience. Make friends who respect your true self.

Take time to be alone so that you realize how terrific your own company could be. Remember that being alone does not always mean being lonely, it can be a beautiful experience of finding the calm and quiet peace deep inside you. Do not ever forget that you are special and you have the ability to make your dreams come true.Until then, keep thinking, keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities. See you this day next week.

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