Have you ever been passionate about something? Maybe you are a closet artist. You work 40 hours a week just to go home and pull out a canvas to relax. Maybe you love to read. You grew up escaping into any and every book within arms reach, and now, you have to read a chapter of something to fall asleep at night. Or maybe it is something else, but we all have that thing we love to do right? Well, for a lot of my life, I did not believe that was true.
When it came to having a passion for something, I did not know what that felt like. Everyone around me loved something: doing hair, drawing, playing basketball, just something. I, on the other hand, could not find my niche. It actually was not until my first year of college that I realized I loved encouraging people. And yes, I had the same thought that just crossed your mind right now, “anyone can encourage people, but that is not a passion.” So, before you go all “Chonte’via you are insane” on me, just hear me out.
The word passion comes from the Latin word “Pati” which means suffer. What an odd word to use in the context we do. However, that is a true representation of how we feel on the inside. Whenever we are without the thing we are most passionate about we feel like we are suffering; like a part of us is missing. I believe it is because the things we are most passionate about play a big part in our purpose. Even the crucifixion of Jesus was referred to as the Passion of Christ. But that was His purpose, to live and die for our sins. He dedicated his whole life to that purpose, and did absolutely everything in excellence, and that is how He served God. That is what each of us are trying to do, we are wanting to fulfill a purpose by following our passion. If we can not do the things that bring us joy then we feel a void. When I am not encouraging others, I feel that void. I have never felt more like myself than when I am encouraging others.
So, why am I doing The World Race? To be honest, I ask myself this question just about everyday. Sometimes the answer is, “because I want to love and encourage others, and The World Race is a great opportunity to do that”. And other times the answer is, “because I want to travel and learn about other cultures”. But there have been a few times that my answer has been, on the inside, I do not know, and on the outside, I just repeated one of the other two answers. However, now that I have sat down and really taken the time to think about what the Lord is wanting to, I can finally answer this question.The World Race is an amazing opportunity to collide three of my passions— Encouraging and loving others, children, and Jesus. It is a way I can express my gratitude towards Jesus for the Grace He has shown me, by showing the same Love to others. And there is no better way to show that love, than to encourage children who do not understand what it means to be unconditionally Loved. That is why I am going on The World Race.
