Passion Is A Plus

I live in a university community, and like so many others here, I’m a big fan of Kansas State football and basketball. One Saturday night a few years ago, our basketball team played the #1 team in the nation which also happens to be our in-state arch rival. Ah yes, the mighty KU! Year after year, they have beaten us, but occasionally we step up and surprise them. And this, we thought, would be the year it happened again. The fans were in a frenzy after being on ESPN Game Day earlier that morning. 12,500 screaming faithful in what is now termed the Octagon of Doom. Which translates into our 8 sided basketball arena.

That season, our team scratched its way into the Top 25 rankings, moving all the way up to #11 in one poll. We beat Texas who was #1 at the time. We beat Baylor in their arena and we had a team that believed they could win.

One player in particular played with such fervor that the other players followed him like the Pied Piper. Jacob Pullen, a junior guard from the Chicago suburbs, had the passion needed to be a winner. He played his heart out. He and his teammates didn’t win every game. That day they lost to KU by 2 points in overtime in what has been hailed as one of basketball’s truly memorable games. The loss was disappointing, but it wouldn’t dampen the passion Jacob displayed in every game. I knew that he’d show up for the next game with the same drive as he had in the previous one. He knew you don’t give up, you keep going. If you sit down and nurse your wounds, feed on your heartbreak, the rest of the world will pass right on by. I felt certain that if  he carried this trait into his post-college world, he’d do just fine.

Writers who have continuous passion for what they do are going to find success much sooner than those who feel it only sometimes. It’s a kind of magic when you can write with passion day after day. The passion seed is planted, and it grows little by little until it becomes a part of who you are.

Why do some have it and others don’t? I’m not sure I have the answer, but perhaps it comes from desire and goals they strive to attain. How badly do you want to be a successful writer? Are you satisfied writing a daily journal that no one else sees? Or do you want to write words that you can share with the world? Jacob Pullen wanted to take his team straight to the top, and he kept working in every practice session and every game to achieve that goal. Will you? Are you willing to make a total commitment to being a writer?