Dedication Breeds Passion

I am a pretty firm believer that everyone is given certain gifts and talents in which we are called to develop and utilize. Those talents often need much more developing than we’re comfortable with. LeBron had to develop a shot. Froning had to develop his motor. Nobody becomes the best at what they do without development and dedication to that specific talent. I believe passion comes from dedication to that specific talent. Michael Phelps was passionate about swimming BECAUSE he was dedicated to it. His passion grew as his dedication grew. The more we are involved in a specific interest whether it’s weightlifting, Crossfit, or badminton, the more we become passionate about that specific thing. Passion, is a direct result of the level of dedication to our talent.
All of us have been given specific talents and gifts with which we are called to develop. For some of us our gifts and talents are painfully obvious. LaDanian Tomlinson clearly was gifted in running the football. Others of us need to really work and dedicate ourselves to our talent in order to see that we are gifted in that area. Weightlifting did not come as a natural gift and talent to me. It took a coach believing in me and years of ignoring haters knowing that God had actually given me some gifting in weightlifting. Trust me I am very aware that I am no Chad Vaughn or John North. However I also know that I’m terrible at a lot of things and weightlifting seems to be something that I’m decent at in comparison. God gave me that talent and it is good stewardship to develop it.
I was not initially very passionate about weightlifting. Mainly because I was terrible. My very first lifting competition I think I cleaned 155 pounds and was overly excited about it. That competition came one year after beginning to work out.

However as I competed more and as I worked out more, I became more dedicated to my sport and I began to see my passion grow. For those of you out there wondering why you are not enjoying where you’re at, it may be because you’re not dedicating yourselves to what you’re doing. I do not believe there is a passion that comes automatically for something we are not dedicated to. In order to really love what we do and really be passionate about what we do, we must also be dedicated to it. You cannot be halfheartedly involved in weightlifting and expect to be extremely passionate about it. With dedication comes passion and the more dedication there is the more passion there is. They are directly correlated.
My advice (for the 2 cents it’s worth) and my Friday soapbox is that if you want to be more passionate and want to enjoy more what you doing; dedicate yourself more fully to it. Great passion does not come from halfhearted, lazy dedication. Great passion comes from great dedication.
In the same vein clearly Rudy was probably too dedicated to being in a hip-hop band. This picture speaks thousands of words to his passion. 🙂

Also, today was a sad day in American history.  Please remember to pray for and mourn the loss of so many innocent lives in Newtown today.  Depravity in one of its clearest forms.