Passion vs. ambition

This is a thoughtful Thursday for me. I've been thinking about how to enlarge my life. I began by thinking about the things I've done to push myself and what was my motivation. I've decided that ambition wasn't it.

To me, ambition is outward. It's wanting to succeed but even further, wanting to succeed in the eyes of others. Ambition is  sometimes a part of passion. But you can't be truly ambitious without being passionate.

On the other hand, you can be passionate without being ambitious. Passion is often thought of in a sexual sense. But I think the only way to be creative, and to achieve goals is to be passionate. Ambition is doing something because it will enhance your status. And ambition can be part of your makeup without bringing achievement. In order to really achieve, the passion must be there. Einstein said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." To me that means hard work and passion.

When I look back on the things I achieved in my life, there has always been passion. I became excited about what I was doing. And if I wasn't excited, I never completed my task. It becomes a thing that you can't not do when you are passionate. An artist can't not create. A salesman can't not sell. A caretaker must take care of people or animals or something.

I don't know how to create passion. I wish I did.