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PASSION REDEFINED—YET AGAIN
Kathlyn Q. Barrozo
Class of 1991, University of Santo Tomas
B.S. Medical Technology
Passion is characterized by either the presence of a powerful emotion such as hatred or love, or by the
boundless enthusiasm for something such as a job or an interest. It is basically the nexus that works to connect
us to the realities of life. The things that we do and what we eventually become have always been driven by
something that might be difficult to pinpoint exactly, but the bottom line? We are basically creatures driven by
passion.
Passion is the fire in your belly, it is that certain twinge in your gut urging you to go ahead and go forward.
Without passion we lose a certain momentum, a situation in which we lose our grip and traction on the
pathways we choose. Without passion, we are led to believe that there’s no hope of ever overcoming the odds
that come our way. If temper is the one thing you cannot have by losing it, passion on the other hand is the one
thing which helps you not lose anything once you have it.
When a teacher goes about her duties as a teacher without regard for the salary she gets or the amount of
work she has to do to accomplish her tasks, then it is passion which drives her. For a mother who goes about
her house chores and family-related affairs without consideration for how much her noble job takes from her,
she is happily doing so because she has the passion for her family’s welfare. When a father pushes himself to
work long hours just to ensure that his family gets what they are justly meant to have, it is passion for his
family that fuels him. When an artist strives to paint the greatest masterpieces conceivable without worrying
whether his works will some day get recognized, he does so with the greatest of passion.
The greatest passion has been shown by one Great Man who had willingly sacrificed His life for mankind’s
salvation. Setting aside any religious differences, this Man’s sacrifice was the most appropriate descriptive
illustration of a genuine passion to serve others without regard for the pain it all will cause. Unselfishly, He had
chosen to die on the cross, endure the greatest of insults from even those whom He had helped, all because He
had a burning passion for His Father’s command. Indeed, when we are asked to illustrate passion, the cross is
probably the best picture of passion we can come up with.
So when you feel your passion ebbing, when the fire in you seems to be burning out so slowly, or when others
seem to make it difficult for you to go as you should, remember the cross, and let it reignite your passion for
what needs to be done. By this alone, you shall find that passion, yet again.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Define passion, in your own words.
2. What is your greatest passion in life?
3. Why is passion necessary? What happens when we lose our passion?
4. How do you regain passion when you lose it?
5. In your opinion, do some people succeed because of genuine passion alone? Be able to cite other factors for
success aside from passion.