by MelAnn Morales

I had a friend give me a heads up to an article from October over at Yellow Hammer. She knew I admire Mike Rowe and wanted to know my thoughts about his views on passion. I will admit, when I first scanned the article, I was “uncomfortable.” I am all about passion!  So, this one stepped all over my soul, and it was not fun to be stepped on by someone I admire.

So, before I jumped to conclusions, I carefully read the article and his response again. The very end of his response was pure genius:

“Passion is too important to be without, but too fickle to be guided by. Which is why I’m more inclined to say, “Don’t Follow Your Passion. But Always Bring It With You.”

For life coaches, there is a huge culture about passion that fuels your why. We must follow our passion in order to be truly happy. Passion seems to be the magic bean we plant to change lives!

Passion is dangerous! Look at the story of David! True, God called him “a man after God’s own heart.” So, I pay close attention to the story of David. Where did passion lead David? He coveted and had another man’s wife and then set him up to be killed on the front lines of war to cover up the fact Bathsheba was pregnant and not with her husband’s child. He danced naked in the streets to celebrate victory. Must I go on? A king dancing naked is passion without a plan.

The Passion is about the Christ’s last days on earth! What a horrible way to die! That is passion. But it was also the plan! It was the design. It was the timeline of specific events that had to unfold and play out in order to reach the objective of that beautiful plan of grace! It was His work he had to do while He was here.

So, next time you are all ready to jump on that passion wagon, just keep a healthy perspective on it. Don’t forget the passion. Passion makes for some great poetry and love stories. The world needs more of that! But don’t forget the clothes: Purpose, Plan, and Hard Freakin’ Work!

Or, you can dance naked. Your choice.

MelAnn Morales is a L.I.F.E.Strategist & Empowerment Coach. She is passionate about recreating that space between a rock and a hard place to win at the unfair game of life. She can find powerful life lessons in what she sees or experiences in every day life and excels at creating powerful habits and strategies that keep life moving forward when it encounters crisis or the unexpected. She hijacks the status quo. She “unschools” her two children. She enjoys photography, cooking, movies, reading, music, the outdoors, and the adventure of travel and new experiences. You can find her at melannmorales.com.