Passion or bust

“Great dancers aren’t great because of their technique; they

are great because of their passion.”

I’m not sure who said this, but God love ‘em.

In my family, I’m known as the Ohio skier. Translation—bad. But my response is always the same, “who cares? I love it more.” Given my eldest would give up junk food for the rest of her life in order to ski, I’m not sure this is true. However, I stand by the passion plug. Love what you do.

Today, we skied for the first time as a family. Ellie, the daughter who’d sell her teenage soul for a powder day, has been out with her race team a bunch. But the rest of us have only just begun.

Honestly, I wasn’t’ sure I was ready to ski. After all, the Halloween witch just packed up her broomstick. Getting up before the sun on a Saturday wasn’t a thrill either. But, gliding down that hill? Not much can compare. Fresh air, steep slopes, and Texan skiers whooping it up? Well, now that’s skiing. Okay, maybe we could delete the Texans, but the rest of it? Pure passion. Do what you love.

Can you master your attitude?

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can

control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in

that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it

to master you.”- -Brian Tracy

 

Wouldn’t it be great to tune it out? Really, who wants to hear the kids fight over who took the biggest piece of cake? Do I care about the one hundred reasons they didn’t clean their room? I don’t. I could do without the whining and the fighting and the endless bit about life not being fair. So, let’s turn the volume down, eh?

Be careful what you wish for. This week, one of my good mom friends had surgery to help her from going deaf. She’s had days when her equilibrium’s been so thrown that she felt like she’d been tossed on a wild carpet ride, minus the drugs. It’s hard to imagine a world without noise. Some days, we all wish for it. But when you are brought face to face with such reality, you think again.

My friend is brave. Braver than I. She’s tackled her loss with incredible grace and spirit. She can’t control what’s happened to her. But she’s certainly handled her attitude. Of course, she’s depressed. Sad. Angry. Who wouldn’t be? I’m sure Beethoven and Helen Keller felt the same way. But look what they did. We do have the ability to make lemonade, when life gives us lemons. Like my friend, maybe we should try.