Passion

I started walking from Foggy Bottom yesterday. It's about 10 blocks from my office, which is a really good walk in the morning. It gives me time to think, which I feel like I can't do on the train. And I realized something yesterday morning - I don't really have a lot of passion for what I do. I don't dislike my job, and I feel like I'm pretty good at it, but I'm not that passionate about it. Ironically, I think I was passionate about my old job, but the organization was so terrible that I couldn't stay there any longer.

I have wondered for the longest time how people become so successful so young, and I believe that's the dividing line. I know I have a ton of ability (or potential, but I hate that word), but I think passion is really what makes you who you are. And just like leadership, you can't learn passion. It has to be a natural fire.

But this got me thinking - have I ever been the type of person who wakes up in the morning anxious to start the day and make a difference? And I don't know that I have ever been that way. Has it hindered me? Am I worse off than I would be if I couldn't wait to begin each day? I don't want to die never having been passionate about my life's work, but I don't want to die because I'm passionate about it either.