Lack of Passion Drives Americans to Mediocrity

Smoldering embers will not heat a house. Apathy will not change the world.

But passion, whose name sounds like a giant wind, can sweep up everything in its way and leave behind a changed landscape. It comes in different packages but the flavor is the same. It is the spot inside that explodes when an idea pops up, and stays on fire until the idea becomes reality. This is why we have the American Cancer Society, MADD, and National Tunafish Sandwich Week.

Unfortunately, too many people don't know the power of passion. I see in many of my peers a lack of passion, a lack of conviction, a lack of interest in much of anything. Most have goals, but not goals for which they are willing to work. Most have dreams, but few have the drive to "suck the marrow out of life," as Thoreau put it. I hear classmates discuss college and career plans, and many have their entire lives mapped out, down to the color siding their first house will have. Few, however, participate in internships or college fairs and therefore miss opportunities to develop these plans into reality.

It is my experience that anything worth having is worth fighting for. Of course it's easy to give up; that's always the easiest option available. But those who give up will never achieve what they set out to achieve, whether that's a top-quality college education or a ride down Emerald Pointe Water Park's "Daredevil Drop." Even more important, people who give up will not improve society in any way. Throughout history only the determined, often fighting against everyone's expectations, have made large impacts on others.

I see in alarmingly few of my peers the motivation to stick with anything for long. Many students at my school declare themselves Christians, but few seem to have good reasons for their beliefs, and fewer still follow through on a faith. Many students voice concerns over government actions or inactions but don't take their own measures to solve the problems. In other words, too many of my classmates are all talk...and they eventually lose interest with even that.

Young people aren't the only ones struck by the apathy bug. The epidemic of "quitters" in society is rampant. From politicians who back off tough budget decisions to mothers who don't finish their college degrees, adults often lead youth by example...and they're leading straight into a life of mediocrity.

Perhaps low motivation, even laziness, has always been a problem in society, but I believe that problem has been magnified by the proliferation of computers, the Internet, televisions, cellular phones, and other such devices. Teenagers can find countless resources for a research paper by typing one word on an Internet search engine. There's an entire twenty-four-hours-a-day channel that broadcasts nothing but the weather. There are so many all-news stations that not only can viewers hear about any tidbit of information they want, at any time of the day or night they desire, but they can also choose which news anchor smiles the prettiest.

This plethora of choices available for little or no work has left in its trail a nation of people who don't know how to work hard. When persons find out their dream will require effort, they usually just settle for something easier to accomplish.

Granted, not every goal is reachable. Individuals must be realistic in their expectations for themselves. Too many people, however, scale down their dreams too quickly, without trying very hard to achieve anything. This can quickly become a habit, and one day, when the stakes are higher and quitting is not an option, I wonder what these people will do.

Passion is the antithesis of quitting. Henri Frédéric Amiel said, "A man without passion is only a latent force, only a possibility, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks."

It is time for Americans to venture out of their comfort zones and find something that goes deeper, something that, like a giant wind, can sweep the world off its feet.