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Pursue Your Passion

Pursue Your Passion

Dwain Wellington Rattray
Pride Contributing Editor

Make a vision board, carry a compass in your pocket, send yourself daily emails – whatever you do, strive to convert your dreams into reality. If you remember nothing else from this article, remember the title and remember the first sentence.

If we do not pursue our passions, do we truly embrace life? When I stand before the majesty that is the ocean, I do not wade up to my ankles; I plunge into the depths and baptize my entire body in liquid glory. It matters not if the water is warm or cold, the experience is enough to make me laugh like a schoolboy; I become giddy with glee. In that moment, nothing else matters. This should be our attitude regarding that which we hold most dear.

Far too often we settle for the mediocre and the mundane rather than asserting ourselves and being bold in our pursuits. But I believe that we must continue to tell ourselves and each other: “You can do it; I know you can.”

My brothers,
My sisters,
Listen to the call of a hungry nation
Longing for your strength!
Upon the broad span of your shoulders will be built
Bridges into a bright,
Beautiful future that YOU will create;
With the strength of your sinewed arms
The soil beneath you will give birth
To a society that YOU will sustain;
Unfettered feet will trample foes and failure
To find fulfillment in that future.
In that day
In that time
When you will be
Your own musicians and poets,
Your own lawyers and doctors,         
Your own scientists and engineers….

Your own dreams are larger than
These words scribbled on parchment;
They live in the inspiration of youth,
They live in the sparkle of your eyes,
They live within the inferno of your belly
And will soar beyond the heavens.
Your dreams are waiting to unfurl their wings,
Waiting in the wings of the world stage
For your inevitable flight into greatness

With the wind of time against your collective backs,
You will ascend the sheer face of this mountain called life
To claim your perch at the summit;
Though the north face may chill your bones,
With the fire in your belly
You will carve your immortal identity out of stone.

Listen to the call of a thirsty people
Pleading for the vitality of your ingenuity and purpose;
With bated breath we here await your eminent arrival –

Plant seeds yet unspoken with eager fingers;
Plant seeds that will blossom,
            Bloom even as you continue,
            Continue to grow,
            Continue to stand tall.
Stand tall my budding garden!
You are pine,
You are birch,
You are oak,
You are cedar,
You are maple –
Within the core of your being
Is yet untapped sweet intensity
Awaiting harvest;
When others may weep, You will reap;
When they would reap tears,
You will sing songs.

Sing your soulful symphony!
Dare to dance in decadence!
Compose a crescendo of magnificent proportions!
The world is your orchestra – you are its conductor;
With spit shined shoes you stand regal and resolute,
Head held high,
Shoulders shoved back in defiance of failure.

Let the rain, the monsoon pound – You will weather it;
Let the snow, the blizzard howl – You will plow through it;
Let the wind, the tornado bellow – You will not bow, you will not yield;
Let the fiery inferno blaze – You will be true to your course;
Let the cold burn – Your passion will burn brighter still,
Hotter still with unrivalled blue brilliance.
You will aspire,
You will work,
You will dare to dream – And it shall be so.

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