I am linking to these posts to make sure I don’t lose them. Both are by Anita Sharpe at Worthwhile Magazine.
The first was called Six Things That Inspire You. I starting writing this entry last week when this was orginally posted. For some reason, I have had a hard time finding six things. Taking five days is also probably not the point of the exercise, but I think my standards are pretty high for things that truly inspire me. I think it is because I am very practical and for something to move me it has to be amazing. So, here are my five things are:
- Brett Favre, anytime he is on the field
- Live music, in person
- The night sky of Doubtful Bay, Fjordland, New Zealand, I have never seen more of the universe
- Noticing every time my son makes another connection, happens constantly at this age, but still have to pay close attention to notice them
- Eating fresh snap peas out of my garden
The second post was In Search of Excellence (Apologies to Tom Peters). She ends with:
And it hit me: while there is certainly no excellence without talent, it’s over-the-top enthusiasm that makes the real difference. True excellence fueled by passion doesn’t have to be outwardly encouraged, even in children. It doesn’t require “motivation” — at least as we commonly practice it.
True excellence is about finding that one thing that you do well and want to do many hours a day…
I have had a number of conversations with people lately about this very subject – the need for passion in their work. It creates deep satisfaction. Anita takes it the next step and says passion creates excellence. So, passion creates happiness and excellence. It sounds like a win-win to me.