Find your passion on a daily basis

Scripture I'm reflecting on:  Ecclesiastes 9:10
     Whatever you do, do well.  For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

As the start of my spring semester came closer and closer, I've prayed for tinspiration and passion for the work that is upcoming.  After finishing off the best semester of my educational career, a semester I was extremely excited to perform well on and put a lot of effort into, I am finding myself now in somewhat of a lull.  The excitement for this semester isn't there like it was before.  The passion has faded a little.

Thankfully, He shot me to this page of the Word recently, which was what I was looking for.

Reflection:
Possibly my favorite movie quote of all time comes from the Shawshank Redemption:  "I guess it comes down to a simple choice really, get busy living, or get busy dying."  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tkzc983aE0).  Our society has become, for lack of a better word, more and more robotic.  More people each day are just "going through the motions", "following a routine" to get them through the day.  Wake up, watch tv, go to work, come home, fire up a microwave meal, surf the net, sleep, repeat.  More and more marriages become stale, with one or either spouse showing any passion, any spntaneity in the relationship (to the point a movie has even been made about it...see Hope Springs).  These routines, this idea of "getting through the day", is us making a choice to get busy dying, rather then getting busy living....the way God intended.

God doesn't give us all of the blessings in our life to "go through the motions."  We have to find joy in the blessings we have.  We have to find passion in the things we do on a daily basis, whether it be something really exciting, or something we do everyday.  All of us have a tendency to let things become ordinary.  Seeing your wife.  Seeing your kids.  Seeing your girlfriend.  Being healthy.  Having a job.  Going to school.  Taking a shower.  Eating.  Breathing clean air.  On and on....When these things become ordinary to us, we start "going through the motions".  We start, not "doing well", as we are told to do in this verse.

Everyday is a blessing, and everyday there is something to be thankful.  Show God your thankful with your passion that day.  When you see your girlfriend that day, show God your thankful by being excited to see her, passionate, and do everything in your power to make her smile and keep the relationship fun and exciting.  When you go to work that day, show God your thankful by doing all of your work as if the company depends on you doing every single task to perfection, whether it actually be something important or just doing your "ordinary" day to day work.  When you go to class that day, show God your thankful with your passion to learn and desire to perform at a high level.  There is no doubt in my mind, that if we do these things, we will not only please God, but we will see great rewards in our own lives as well.

Final Thought:
I spent an embarrasing amount of years taking things in my life for granted.  Family, education, athletics, you name it, I took it for granted.  Attending family functions was something I dreaded doing, and my attitude certainly reflected it.  My effort from high school through most of my undergraduate years was pitiful.  I gave up on numerous athletic gifts I had due to a bad attitude.  Through renewed faith I have been able to change this attitude, and I can personally attest to the rewards that come with it.  I do my best to make every second count at family functions, and I can assure you my "happiness" meter is way up.  I put forth my best effort in school, and the results (as well as just general enjoyment in going to school) are way up.    I promise these results will happen to anyone who can make this attitude change.

The challenge for all of us is to find passion in our lives.  The verse says Whatever you do, do well.  Whatever you do = everything you do.  By finding passion in whatever we do, we will ultimately do it well.  Spouses who are passionate about seeing each other and passionate about being married are almost certainly going to be among the happiest couples.  Employees who are passionate about the work they are doing are almost certainly going to be the top performers, and the workers who receive the greatest rewards and promotions.  And people who are passionate throughout the day, passionate when taking in God's blessings, are absolutely certain to be the ones who receive the ultimate gifts from God in the long run.