Passion + Consistency

When I was 12 years old I learnt for the first time that one of the men I called Grandpa wasn’t actually my biological grandfather. His family had fostered my mom, while growing up, and so I had been raised not being any the wiser and to me he was grandpa until his passing in 2012. I’ve started the newsletter with this bit of my story because he was a very intelligent guy, very wise and strongly principled. And although very conservative, his generation was I suppose, I had a large amount of respect for him. Sometime in the year 2000 I found myself holding plumbing putty while he inspected a leaking toilet in the house. We were chatting about different things when he asked about my studying and how that was going? I must have mumbled something because without even acknowledging what I had said he turned to me and asked “Have you ever been told that the only true measure of achievement is repetition?” My answer was a sheepish “no” because as a 20 year old student wannabe rugby player,I didn’t have time for philosophy. He elaborated further by saying that the energy it takes to achieve a good grade is very different from the energy it requires to consistently and repetitively achieve those same marks. Almost 20 years later I can’t remember my reply to him but I know it’s something that penetrated my psyche deeply because if I’m coaching rugby, navigating life or working in clinic I’m aware of the 2 types of energy. You can basically divide them into passion and consistency. Passion is the unstable, creative yang energy it takes to start any new venture. It’s a plunge into the unknown, an exploration of undiscovered territory and it makes us “ballsy” enough to change the status quo. Its polar opposite is the structured, disciplined yin energy of consistency. It’s the maintenance of boundaries and the monotony of disciplined action for however long it takes to achieve an objective. These 2 energies exist as different expressions of each other all the while making up their whole. How many times have you started a new project, gym program, relationship, job or venture, filled with vigor and enthusiasm only for it to come to an end when your initial enthusiasm fades? It requires 2 different energies. A child is brought into existence in a moment of passionate creation but as it grows it requires consistency in boundaries, discipline and nourishment. The 2 energies required to create and raise a child are very different. This principle can be applied to just about anything in life. We live in a world of dichotomies. A world filled with polar opposites. A world of spectrum. We need to create balance between these opposites so that we can apply ourselves effectively in all our endeavors. Embracing and understanding the different energies of passion and consistency will allow us to use them more effectively to our advantage in life. Chat soon