Recycled “Passion”

By Mohammed | December 6, 2008

Originally Posted on April 24, 2007

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What makes your heart sing? What do you love? Where is your passion?

I?ve written about this subject many times before. It is a subject that I have given much thought to. The experiences of my past and my observations of life have absolutely lead me to know how vital and life giving it is to have a passion, to find a purpose, to love what you do, to truly enjoy the every days that become your life.

I don?t watch Oprah everyday. I don?t watch Oprah when she has celebrities on. I don?t watch Oprah on days like today when she is discussing a sad and tragic subject. But I do watch Oprah when she has a program that inspires me. Yesterday Oprah inspired me.

Russell Simmons has written a book entitled ?Do You!:12 Laws to access the Power to Achieve Happiness and Success?. Russell Simmons is a hip-hop mogul. He has achieved an amazing success as an American Entrepreneur. I knew who he was but I was really not that familiar with him. I?m not exactly a hip-hop kind of girl but I?m now a fan of Russell Simmons! One of the main premises of the book and the whole focus of Oprah?s show was taking your passions and creating your own success. Wow! You know I love that!

She had Diane Warren on the show. Diane Warren is the songwriter behind just about every successful love song on the radio, from songs by Aerosmith to Tricia Yearwood to Celine Dion. The fact is Diane Warren is the most prolific and successful songwriter in history.
She is telling her story on Oprah and she said that her own mother told her she was dreaming and to give it up. But she didn?t give up.

She said that she is continuously writing songs and that it is like a connection to a higher power that expresses through her. She said that writing songs is so much a part of her life that without it she would want to die. Wow.

Her passion and her joy for songwriting were palpable. I could feel the energy right through the T.V.

(small footnote: Diane Warren shares my same birthday-Yay!! but she is 5 years older)

Oprah then interviewed Liz Lange from Liz Lange maternity. Her words of wisdom were ?Life Lesson Number One ?don?t feel like you need to be bogged down by the skill sets that you do or don?t have?. That is brilliant advice. You may not know ?how? but if you keep focused on the end result you can figure it out.

The next guest was Jonathan Adler. Jonathan is a potter, as in pottery, as in spinning the wheel, an artist, a craftsman. He said he loved the clay from the instant he touched it. When he finally summoned up the courage to quit his job as a talent scout and do pottery full time he thought he would just do it because he loved it so much and he would try to sell a few pieces at craft fairs. But he had to do pottery. He had a passion. He loved it. It called to him.

Jonathan Adler turned his passion for his craft into a multimillion-dollar home furnishings empire. He has eight stores across the country and his products are sold in various department stores.

These stories were all inspirational. They were all wonderful.

But the truly inspirational thing about these stories for me was not the money or the end results but rather the joy and the happiness that these people had for their work. They were all living, breathing and incredibly inspiring examples of following your passions. They were all happy and joyful and connected to their highest selves and source energy.

The money was just a happy side effect.

So what is your passion? What makes your heart sing? What do you love?

?The standard of Success in Life isn?t the things. It isn?t the money or the stuff. It is absolutely the amount of Joy that you feel.?

Abraham-Hicks