Faith. Passion

I have been thinking: what makes a successful person successful? First up, let’s be clear about “success”, I’m not talking about what success is, I’m talking the factor which propels a person to attain success. In order words, what drives them to continue doing what they do?

One thing which is easy to spot: some people are highly motivated, determined, and disciplined in the things they do. So what fuels this motivation?

I arrive at two things: faith, and passion.

The faith I mean here is simply religious faith, of any religion. My belief is aligned with the agnostic-atheist thinking, which basically mean I don’t believe in religion. However, my point here is not about whether god exists, which religion is true, blah, blah, blah. I have a good share of that debate. My point is, having faith gives amazing strength to a person. Quoting a common line heard in my secondary school days as they go major rugby competitions: “If god is with us, who can be against us?” This roughly sums up the idea. As much as I hate to admit, this faith is indeed powerful. This faith in god empowers a person to believe the “I can do it” concept.

A valid point raised by a friend as I told him about this concept: “Not all successful people are religious”. Yes, good point, but that’s not my point, my point is: faith can drive people to success.

Okay, so having said that I have an agnostic-atheist belief, acquiring faith is extremely unlikely, and I went on to explore the “non-religious” people. You see, the people I mix around with, they’re some pretty awesome people. I have a friend who is a volunteer at Red Cross. I have a friend who is a volunteer for MINDS. I have a friend who is a scout, and stayed with that CCA for many years. I have a friend who was a dedicated rugby player, went on to being a rugby coach, and recently featured on international news. Being a mercenary, I do not believe in volunteerism, CCA, or anything along that line. It’s just a waste of time. But taking one step back to analyze what keeps these people doing what they do, I see the thing called “passion”. My 2 volunteer friends have passion in helping people, and my other 2 friends who are committed to their CCAs have passion in the very thing they do.

What do I have passion in? Money? Probably. I’m not saying that money is a bad fuel for passion, but it’s just that after so long, it feels hollow to be doing things just for money. I know this contradicts several things which I have talked about before, but after so long, I need to start being true to myself.

I have yet to find the answer to my passion, it is not something which you can acquire overnight. And finding your passion is tough, especially after worshiping money for so long, you develop a “f**k this, it aint worth the trouble” attitude to everything which is not lucrative. Now, for those reading this, don’t expect to be asking flavors from me, I will show you the finger. I’m not saying that money is not important, I’m just admitting that it may not be the most important thing, and I probably knew it all along.