Passion = Perseverance
Renita C. Gabriel, Psy.D., contributing editor
http://www.breakthroughspsycservices.com
Consider the age old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.” We all know of “success stories.” Whether it’s a professional athlete who’s on the top of his game or a local entrepreneur who’s made millions, we can all point to someone who seems to “have it made.” If we look a little closer at their lives and their paths to success, however, we would recognize that many of their paths were paved with perseverance. Our society tends to ignore the “rags” portion of “rags to riches” stories. We hone in on the “happy endings” but don’t really give a second thought to the tenacity it took for a person to get to their place of influence. Often when we discover the relentlessness of these accomplished individuals we become astonished and ask ourselves, “What would drive a person to persevere despite the odds?” Perhaps the most simplistic answer to this question is passion.
According to the World English Dictionary, one definition for the word passion is, “a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept, etc.” In people who are depressed this “affection” or “enthusiasm” for life is essentially diminished. How does this happen? One explanation is learned helplessness. The theory of learned helplessness posits that a perceived lack of control over one’s environment leads to inaction (Robbins, 2005). Recall the experiments of Marvin Seligman in the late 1960’s, where dogs were placed in situations where there would receive painful electric shocks and would either be able to control the duration of the shocks or not. For the animals that had no perceived control over their circumstance, when placed in another situation where they had more control, they made no effort to escape their situation (http://directory.leadmaverick.com/Helping-Psychology/DallasFort-WorthArlington/TX/10/9748/index.aspx). These animals had learned to not even try due to their past “failures” at escape. One could argue that they had essentially lost their “passion” for thriving and were without hope. What would have happened if they had persisted just a little bit more, perhaps to discover a new strategy or to gain a different perspective? A parallel can be drawn between humans and their experiences with failure and disappointments. Perhaps a parallel can be drawn for each of us personally. What would happen if we persevered through our challenges just a little while longer? Could it be that we would be on our way to a triumphant victory?
Although passion and perseverance are not exactly synonymous, arguably they go hand in hand. It appears that authentic passion does not die with difficult circumstances but rather perseveres come what may. Consider the following T.I.P.:
Take time to identify your passion(s).
Initiate a strategy for accomplishing goals pertaining to your passion.
Persevere throughout the difficult times to achieve your goals.
Reference
Robins, T.W. (2005). Controlling stress: how the brain protects itself from depression. Nature Neuroscience, 8 (3), 261-262.
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