Passion

Practical nature of Passion

Does Passion really exist or do we just fall into it. I’m going to argue that it doesn’t exist. For the past couple weeks I’ve been so interested in Judo. I think about it when I’m driving, I dream about it, I talk to people about it, I write about. It all started with me going to train extra on the weekend. I’ve done Judo for the last couple years it’s a good workout and I like the philosophy behind it. I liked going but I was never that into it. I went to train that weekend, and it was just me and my sensei so he gave me one-on-one advice to improve my game. I went to class the next week, and I was throwing brown belts in my class, and that feeling was terrific. The argument is that this terrific feeling of getting better is the force that drives passion, and any spark can set it off.

This flurry of good emotions can only come if you truly think you are getting better. This feeling of getting better is the fuel behind passion, Once you hit a plateau it gets harder to keep going. When you can’t see the external success, or indicators tell you did a great job. For example, me throwing someone is the ultimate goal in Judo, but this can stop you paradoxically from being the ultimate Judoka. If I’m always just motivated by throwing people and I stop training for months when I can’t throw people I’ll never be a great Judoka, because if there are so many parts of the game you have to work on and the only way you’ll do that is by being okay in those uncomfortable situations where you could get thrown. Point is its really easy to keep going when you are realizing your ultimate goal. Natural talent you won’t get you to be the greatest Judoka. At one point you will have met your match and now either you give up as loose fight while getting readies for the most important fight LIFE

After weekend class I’m throwing people, left and right, even 3 brown belts. They have significantly better technique than me but I threw them because of fundamentals. This caused a chain reaction where since now I was good at Judo, or at least I got better fast. It got super fun In Judo the best outcome is you throw them. I was getting the best outcome against better Judoka, A great feeling and I wasn’t getting injured. Two great things were happening ! I trained even harder and got better results. Now today’s session I kept getting thrown, Now the passion for Judo is not as much because now that I’ve been humbled by getting thrown by a white belt, and orange belt. I feel like my Judo has a long way to go. My Judo has improved but it’s still really far from perfect and I’ll always be striving. Often times passion can be the flurry of emotions that come with being good at something.

Shoutout Jack for the photo!