Fire in the Belly!

Five hundred people strong, standing room and invitation only and I happened to be squeezed to the back. Not good for a dude with ADHD. He will be lucky to get ten minutes out of me, the CEO of a fortunate five hundred company that is. This guy was strong in his presentation, straight shooter in his beliefs and sensitive to what matters most in success and life. “What do you want to know? He asks as he took fifty question statements randomly from the audience; of course mine was last being in the way distant back of auditorium. I strategically thought of the most important question of all and notice no other person address the main issue, “How do you connect with people’s heart strings.” I asked boldly. Was not sure exactly why at the time he took a double and triple take at my forehead, but I was soon going to find out.

After the speech as I was speaking with a few individuals around me of what I do for a living, I received a tap on the shoulder. Turned around and it was the gentleman, the main speaker. Our conversation lasted about five minutes but seemed like an hour. I shared with him my story of how I came to arrive in the mountains of Colorado. As we said good-bye I reached out my hand, but he did not reciprocate. Instead he looks me in the eye and puts both hands on my shoulders and said, “I picked out two people in the entire room, that I just knew who knew what it takes to succeed and was going to do great things in life, you were one of them.”

Over time believe you me, people have said some strange things to me. While this maybe was not strange, it did catch me a little off guard as I tried to connect the dots on what he was getting at. I did know the speaker personally but one of my good friends did. An hour later she calls me. Seated in front of the room, she did not know or see what transpired in the back between the gentleman and I on hour before. She said she received a phone call for the speaker telling her basically what he told me. There were two people, not including my friend who was going to do great things. My friend asked him, “How in the world could you tell that, especially out of all the people in the room? “The Eyes,” he said. Your friend Greg and one other person had the fire! The eyes do not lie, they tell the truth of the soul.” It does not matter what you sell, promote or believe in, as much as it matters the passion you have behind them. We live in a world that has lost the fire, its ability to dream, to create, to at the end of the day, possess a Hope for the future, themselves and others. No one can create that for you. No one can flip the switch and zap it into you. Only you hold the match to lighting that fire. Only you breathe such passion into your soul.

Passion – Strong and barely controllable emotion. Do you have it? Did you have it? Do you want it? Do you deserve it?