Don't wait for passion. pursue purpose

​About six years ago, I went for a run. I assure you that run wasn't a response to a calling or the sudden decision to pursue my passion. It's truer to say when I took that first step, I was running against the current of passion.

I wasn't a runner. I never wanted to be one. I considered the possibility of becoming one a personal threat on my life. But there I was - one foot in front of the other.

Magically, that first run piqued my curiosity about possibilities. A curiosity that many days has made that first run feel like it's never ended. The strange thing is, contrary to what I always thought other runners were selling as the benefits of running, most of the possibilities I've discovered aren't about making me better. Much more than that, running has opened my eyes to how I can help make the world better.

I was guilty - and too many days I remain guilty - of wanting to follow my passions. I would sit around waiting for passion to come knocking at my door and fill me with a fire - and then with excitement - wave its arms and declare "come follow me."

Running has taught me that passion is something we unlock, not something we discover. Passion is something that emerges from getting up and out and doing something in this world, not something that takes our hand at the starting line of life and says "weee - off we go."

Passion too often is what we think about when we are asking ourselves - what am I made to be in life?

What do I most WANT to be in life?

Passion is often a conversation we have with ourselves that centers on what will make me feel fulfilled, not what can I do to fulfill the world around me.

Listen, I think there's a lot of value in feeling personally fulfilled. I think I just spent too many years focused on the wrong end of the path to fulfillment. I think I spent too many years wondering when fulfillment was going to show up instead of exploring the possibility that it was out there tapping its feet waiting on me.

Running put me on a path to finding chances to serve others. It connected me to other people who were finding their own chances to serve others. Those chances helped me come to define running as a purpose more than a passion.

You can be sure, though - running is one of my passions.

If you're wondering what you are made to be in life, don't get stuck waiting on the answer. If you're wondering what you are made to be, lean into the certainty that we are all made to do. And when we point that "do" toward doing for others, there's a really good chance you're going to unlock a passion.

I've discovered when we run with purpose toward others - passion is not far behind. When it catches up - well that is one race worth losing.