Betty LaVelle
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Passion in our Lives: Defining Your Passion

8/15/2015

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Have we really lived unless there is passion in our lives?  Passion is the source of our finest moments. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement; it is energy and ambition put into action with our heart, body, and soul. It may be the source of love, the ecstasy of grief, the role of inspiration. 
 
When we are passionate, we feel free from external constraints and feel free to invest time and energy into our lives.  Work is no longer work, but play. When we speak and act with passion, there is both an internal and external magnetism.  Sometimes we find our passion but do not follow it—or sometimes we lose it and try to reclaim it as I write in my poem “Resurrection.” 

I admire many people. Their magnetic energy draws me to them, and I am compelled to draw from their exuding of energy, the intensity of their endeavors, their joie de vivre. They follow their heart. Several people in my lifetime have made an impact on me. There is my friend Ralph, the criminal trial lawyer.  I could forever just sit and listen to his tales of trial preparation, the recap of court dialogue and cross-examination, and the exciting behind-the-scenes events that no one else gets to hear. He is exhilarated when he relays the story of his well-prepared case.  I am star stricken listening to him.

And my friend, the pastor, whom I call Father George. He tells me that his passions are “teaching, Jesus, learning…”  Father George’s passions go beyond teaching.  He is an example of doing. His passion is “being there.” Being there at the bedside of your neighbor at 2 a.m. when you let him know she is dying.  Being there with a truck to load up furniture you need to haul away. Being there with his freshly-baked juicy peach pie for you because he believes that the ultra-flaky crust and aroma of juicy peaches will surely lead you to Jesus.

Passion lies in all of us, just waiting to be claimed and followed. I asked my friend, Meg Thompson, a kind and thoughtful person to think about her passion.  Meg is a doer and follows her heart.  Meg replies: “Now about my passion.  Hmm.  Your question made me ponder on my life since I couldn't immediately think of my passion.  I believe music would be my passion.  I had a diversion loving bicycling as much as music and now it is music…I'll ponder on how my life is affected by music.”  Meg has a warm, beautiful voice with a positive affinity for singing. Her enthusiasm radiates, her passion captivates.

One would think that a Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee would claim songwriting as his passion. However, with a voice as sweet as an angel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRyjHRdR2Ko, rock singer and songwriter Rick Roberts claims baseball as his passion. You can read his blog here—“I Love Baseball.”  Rick has boundless energy, enthusiasm, and the joie de vivre so attractive and compelling.  He did not let a horrendous injury several years ago keep him grounded. Rick went on to extend his writing as an author of Song Stories and Other Left-Handed Recollections and is finishing writing his second book.

Passion is what makes life interesting.  How do you define your passion?  Let me know.


  

“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”  
                                                                       
–Vincent van Gogh

                                                                                       


1 Comment

Passion in our Lives

8/15/2015

1 Comment

 

"I Love Baseball"
by Rick Roberts

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I have a passion for something that not all too many folks perceive as a particularly likely target for such a thing. I love baseball. When I listen to people describing the sport, I hear terms ranging from pastoral, relaxing, and prosaic from those who are fond of the game, to words like tedious, snail-paced or plodding from the ones who are less taken by its charms. Usually, both groups are just finding polite ways of saying it's boring. I disagree. Even though baseball doesn't offer the non-stop motion of basketball, or the sixty minutes of barely controlled violence of football, it can nevertheless be equally stimulating. And I mean no disrespect to those other sports. Believe me, I am very fond of them, too.

There is a difference though. Baseball requires a lot more mental effort. It is arguably an on field version of a chess match. And while I know that not many people would call a chess game "exciting," it still provides a great amount of dramatic tension. To a rabid fan, which I freely admit to being, the strategy involved with the field game (baseball) changes with every pitch, just as it does with every move in the board game (chess). And it all carries an abundance of tension. 

There's barely enough time between pitches to consider all the relevant pieces of the puzzle. You have to tally up the equation of the score, the ball and strike count, any or how many men are on base (and which base), how many outs, what inning you're in, the particular strengths and weaknesses of the batter, is the man on base fast, and the list goes on. And as I said, the equation changes with every pitch. And still, for the most part, they conduct the affair in an elegant and stately manner.

It's been said more than once that baseball is a team sport consisting entirely of one on one confrontations. But as many a wealthy owner has discovered, assembling a team made up of the very best player at every position does not always lead to winning. Team chemistry is a major factor in the ultimate success of any team. And to watch a well-trained and effective team function in the field and make seemingly impossible plays is much like watching a well-oiled machine in action. Admittedly, these pleasures are more enjoyable when the game being watched is a good contest, rather than a one sided blowout. But I think that's the same in any sport.

 Keep in mind that all this deeper analysis is not mandatory. For those who enjoy the leisure of spending an afternoon or an evening with a game that will unfold as slowly or as quickly as it chooses rather than paying allegiance to a clock with a specified length of time to get the job done, nothing more is necessary. But for those who perceive the game as an endless bore, there may be more to it than you have figured out yet.



Rick Roberts is a musician, singer, author, and songwriter.  His songs, including “You are the Woman,” topped the music charts when he was the lead singer of the band Firefall.   http://rickrobertsmusic.com/




If basketball is the checkers of the sports world, baseball is a chess match requiring mental energy of a demanding game.


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A Handbook of Profanity

8/4/2015

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