Passion and Suffering

VitalityExplorers.com

Would you follow your passions if you knew you would suffer?

That question has haunted me since I discovered the original meaning of the word passion (passio) was to suffer or endure. That meaning dates back to Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday, also known as the Passion of the Christ.

Passion in the 14th century morphed into a medical term connected to a broken bone or even a terminal disease. It was also associated with mental illness and episodes of madness. Specifically, it was a “state marked by strong excitement, agitation or other intense emotion.”

By the 17th century, the word passion was increasingly connected to sexual desire or impulses. Later that century, passion was used to describe intense enthusiasm by a variety of writers including Shakespeare. Passion to this today is associated with both love and enthusiasm.

We are often told to follow our passions in order to be happy. They may be wise counsel but doing so often leads to suffering or the need to endure a hardship.

A passion to become an elite athlete, entertainer, educator, or entrepreneur requires the ability to overcome agonizing obstacles.

Following a passion to become a professional can often demand a decade or more of hard time to complete the required education.

Finding and maintaining a true love could be the most challenging passion of all because of the suffering that can occurred if true love is ever lost.

Perhaps we need to be prepared to endure suffering if we choose to follow our passions.

And, maybe the meaning of “passion” hasn’t changed as much as we may have thought.

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References

http://www.whitesmoke.com/etymology-passion

https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Etymology-of-Passion

https://onceuponawrittenword.wordpress.com/2018/02/19/the-metamorphosis-of-passion/