The Power of Passion - Are You Involving Your Heart?
October 6th, 2008
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Many people are blindly following everyone else’s schedule - school, work, and learning sedarim. They just do what everyone else does, because, well, everyone else does it, without much thought about what it means to them. This is merely making your body follow the schedule. With this outlook, you still accomplish things: you get your taxes done every year, get that report in, or learn that blatt gemara.
But you generally resist it. It is hardly an enjoyable experience.
As much as you put in the effort, you may wish you weren’t there. That’s hardly conducive to doing your best! Just check most classrooms and work environments. America is spending more money than ever on education but getting worse results than before. It isn’t just about technical expertise of the teacher or the material.
What if you are excited about something? What happens when you jump into a project that looks interesting? Start learning a sugya or a book because it sparked your fancy or is immediately applicable?
It hardly seems like work and happens rather quickly. Your energy level jumps through the roof. You want to keep putting in time and effort. If you care about something, you will use much more of your resources willingly- both physical and mental. You put in more energy than you are required to. You will think about it even when you don’t need to. That’s what getting your heart involved does. There is no comparison between someone that enjoys what he is doing and someone who is just doing it because he has to.
Certain things energize us. We don’t have a fixed amount of energy for each day - some things that are objectively “work” can be incredibly stimulating and enjoyable. We may be tired but will perk up and put lots of effort into them.
The power of being interested, passionate, or simply caring is amazing. I notice a HUGE difference between something that I feel strongly about or find very worthwhile compared to just something on my to-do list. Passion pours on the energy and helps you overcome procrastination, lack of energy, and doubts. Organizations prefer volunteers rather than paid workers because you can only hire someone’s body. You can’t hire their heart and their mind, which is what a person volunteers.
Because of this idea, the Netziv said to learn what interests you. R’ Hutner says that isn’t just a nice idea, but that this is the way to learn. When we follow what we feel attracted to - such as which sefer in tanach to learn or what type of job - we are happier, put in more time and more effort. We improve our skill, and that makes it easier and more satisfying. It starts a tremendous upward spiral!
What percentage of people in school, work, or learning do you see enjoying themselves?
When R’ Yaakov was asked how he pushed himself to learn so much, he responded: “If you knew how much pleasure I got from learning, you wouldn’t be asking that question.” He clearly put his heart into his learning, and didn’t just regard it as “something he had to do.”
Don’t let your learning or growth be routine. Find what you feel strongly about and throw yourself into it. Your learning, your middos, anything! To really give something all your efforts, you have to be emotionally invested in it. You have to care. You may be learning gemara, but feel you should be focusing on Rashi. So focus on Rashi! You don’t need to leave the group - just have your own reasons for putting in more energy.
How do you relate to your schedule now: “Another boring day” or “Yey! Fun, interesting things!”? What do you care about?
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