Today, as I was going about my daily activities, I was stopped at a red light and something got my attention in a big way. As I sat there, I couldn’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye a guy garnering a directional sign, advertising who knows what! It wasn’t the sign or the advertising that grabbed my attention, it was the guy waving the sign. Now he wasn’t just waving, spinning or hiding behind the sign, displaying little or no enthusiasm as most of the sign twirlers do. No, this guy was moving, turning, gyrating and even moonwalking like someone had a gun to his head, screaming “dance fool dance!” Not only was this guy dancing, but he had a great big smile on his face, as if he were a world famous dancer, performing on stage in front of millions of his screaming fans!
Wow! Is the first thing that came to mind. Not like Wow! look at that clown over there, but more like Wow look at that Passion over there. I think that I was smiling more than he was, and this guy was really smiling! He was in the moment, and his intent was clearly communicated to his audience, without a fraction of misunderstanding. I mean, what enjoyment could anyone possibly get out of twirling a sign and dancing around like a crazy-man, to music that I couldn’t even hear? And on top of that, performing at the corner of a busy intersection during rush hour, risking his dignity and self respect? Well I’ll tell you what… Whatever he got out of it, I am certain that I took away from this experience, the same or possibly even more inspiration than anyone could imagine.
This one man’s passion for what he doing made me realize that there is no action that is taken in this world that doesn’t have a purpose. Every breath that is taken, every hello that is given and every smile that is shared, it all has purpose. Every birth, every death and every life in between, all has purpose. We take for granted our motions and movements, our breaths and our heartbeats, but these seemingly routine activities all have vitally important purposes. Could you imagine if your lungs or your heart just decided that their purpose was not worthy of the effort and passion that it takes to keep you alive. Or, if bees thought pollination had no purpose. We would be damned to a life minus the brilliant color of beautiful flowers to say the least. I am constantly amazed, in the sense that no matter how much knowledge I think that I gain, life still has a library of infinite wisdom to give, and it is this beautiful life that allows us the extraordinary opportunity to be captured by passion, which in turn frees us from mediocrity to pursue our purpose with unmistakable intent.
Whatever you do, do it with passion as if it were on purpose!
~Devan Martinez, The Passion Project
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