When passion reigns

By Patrick Achitabwino:

Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart is an amazing example of how far people can push when their passion focuses on their vision. He was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades, surviving plane crashes and Prisoner of War camps.

This war hero served in the Boer war, World War One and Two. In the process he was shot in the face, losing his left eye, and was also shot through the skull, hip, leg, ankle and ear.

At the Battle of Somme, the one eye and one hand Carton, serving as commanding officer, was seen by his men pulling the pins of grenades out with his teeth and hurling them with his one good arm.

When you are so passionate on what you do, setbacks do not knock you out. When you fall, you wake up and start again. What do you have passion in? Find that and work hard on it. You cannot be everything. Find your mark and that will make a difference.

At the mention of the name Chinua Achebe, people think of literature. At the mention of the name William Shakespeare, people think of drama. The name Michael Jackson resonates with pop music just as Muhammad Ali became the godfather of boxing.

If you look at great achievers in the world, you will notice that they were driven by passion on that which they thought they were good at. Elon Musk is changing the world. Young Mayamiko Nkoloma is changing the world. Thom Mpinganjira made us believe that it is possible to own a bank. Prof Mathews Chikaonda showcased to us that you can become an economic voice that the world respects. Bingu wa Mutharika made us believe that we are not a poor country but poor people that can redesign their future.

Truth of the matter is that it was not plain sailing for these giants. They met many huddles. Probably there were times they had wanted to give up. Surely, their passion was great to the extent that giving up was impossible. When you go into a dream with all your heart, mind and soul, surely giving up is never an option. The passion keeps on driving you forward.

In simple terms, it might feel like as if you are not making progress in the pursuit of your dreams. You might feel as if you have hit the dead end. You might be at the verge of quitting to embark on other initiatives that you have less passion for because it looks fashionable that way. Never take that route. Anything that you do with less passion is not worth it.

Many people are frustrated working for organisations where they have no passion to serve. In general sense, they are there just for paycheck. You can even look at their service delivery. It is always mediocre and they spend a lot of time complaining. It is all just because they went into something all just to earn a living but not that it resonated with their dreams. They end up just being energy drainers.

Find your passion, re-ignite it. That will make a difference. It may take time to realize your dreams. Remember this, better late than never. After all, you are not in a competition with anyone else. In life, you are in competition with yourself. You are running your own race. It matters not the time you reach the finishing line.

If you have to make crazy decisions in pursuit of dreams that you have passion for, then do so. If your passion is in agriculture and you feel that being employed is wasting your time, then quit and focus on that agriculture. With that, you will dedicate all your time to that cause. If your passion is in education, invest in it. If your passion is in any talent that you have, work hard to polish the diamond in it. Passion is the game changer.