Why Passionate People Never Quit

Although sometimes they are on the verge of it.
Whenever people ask me how I am able to chase my passion on the side while working full time, I give a smile and tell them, “It’s not always rainbows and unicorns.” They would turn to me and laugh, thinking it was some kind of a punchline I want to get across. I hope it was.
But I wasn’t even trying to elicit laughter.
I wanted to let them know being passionate about something doesn’t always revolve around positive results. Passionate people don’t always thrive. But what they do have is a spirit that can surpass any adversity coming.
And failure is a friend they always greet with open arms.
Yes, failure. It has always been there lurking just as when we thought we can almost accomplish our goals. It is the greatest party-popper. A total kill-joy. However, we still love it.
“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” — Gena Showalter
Don’t get me wrong. Let me elaborate on my points.
Befriending Failure
Being passionate means surpassing all the odds to do something you really love. May it be your passion for sports, writing, arts, dancing, you name it. Passion fuels our deepest dreams and desires, hoping one day when we become the best versions of our passion-fuelled selves, we will be able to tell the world we did it.
However, given a number of hurdles, we need to figure out a shorter way to realize these passions. But as soon as we find a shortcut, we meet failure on our way out.
We stop, greet failure and go our separate ways.
I wish it was that easy. But again, failure joins us in our journey. So we need to fake a smile and tell ourselves it’s gonna be okay. Although not for too long.
Have you noticed how passionate individuals thank their failures when narrating their journeys to success? It’s because failure pushed them forward and forward until they reach the finish line.
Yes, failure is a negative friend. It will bring out either the best or the worst in a person. But learning to see its significance in pursuing one’s passion can make a difference.
Failure doesn’t want you to stop
Funny how 5 years ago, I joined a writing competition and lost to someone who wasn’t even passionate about writing. I thought it was gonna be my last writing opportunity.
I failed, not once but a lot of times.
Looking back I would ask myself what happened back there. Why did I even lose to someone who wasn’t passionate at all? Questions and doubts multiplied as I try to convince myself to go back to writing.
And I did. Why? Because I realized failure doesn’t want to make me stop. Rather, it wants me to realize that while I don’t always get what I want, I can still become better if I never stop trying.
So I stopped comparing my works and started practicing until I realized how far I have already gone.
Failures are proof you are doing something
I have heard people complaining why their passions never work. I ask, “How can something work if you do not devote time and effort in doing it?”
When we conceive about passions we want to work, we are naturally drawn to the idea — IT SHOULD WORK.
Well, not most of the time.
Once an idea is put into action, a number of scenarios might happen. Succeed or fail, choose.
What passionate individuals expect is not to fail, but to accept its possibility. There is always a room assigned to failure. It ensures that the process of doing your passion actually works, may it be in your favor or not.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy
But that doesn’t warrant you to always make this as an excuse. If you don’t see any change after every failure, it is time to make the right self-assessment.
There will be aha moments in your journey to realizing your passions. Some days there will be none.
Passionate people don’t always get what they want. But that doesn’t mean they will never be able to.
Unless they quit.
