By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

In the journey of life, everyone will be tested, and tests come in various ways. Someone can be tested with power, money, love, work, passion, etc. I think the ultimate test one will experience is the test for the love of God. One might be wondering why the test. Well, tests help to determine one’s interest in life. Tests help to know who someone is, and tests help one to be strong.

According to some schools of thought, if you want to know someone’s character, give him money and power. It’s easy for someone to say if I have an opportunity to be in government, I will do this and that, if I have money, I will help the less privileged, if I marry, I won’t cheat on my partner, if I’m employed, I will do my best, etc. The list is literally endless, but the truth is what will determine how effective one can be is the trial they will have to overcome, and this is where the test of life plays out.

Test is not as bad as some people will see it. Rather, it is used to determine how passionate someone can be to a cause. Just imagine someone saying I’m interested in serving humanity. The passion in that person will make the person look for an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of people. The test this fellow will pass might be leaving a well-paying job for a job that not only pays less, but also gives one the opportunity to serve people.

When you are working on passion, you will experience distraction, your love, loyalty, interest, personality, and faith will be tested in several ways. But if you believe in your cause, you will be determined to overcome it by seeing all the trial and challenges as distractions.

On a personal note, I have experienced my own test of passion. After studying Taxation Law at New York Law School, I refused to work in the industry which pays more and settled for a case manager job. In all sincerity, it wasn’t really a case of passion, but a case of lack of interest, joy, and fulfilment in the industry.

Again, writing and publishing articles every week is not an easy task, because it can be draining and energy sapping. If you think it’s easy to write an average of one thousand three hundred words every week consistently, please try it. Be advised, it takes more than passion to write every week. Discipline, interest and most importantly, the grace of God is at play.

It’s worthy to note that passion means different things to different people. Some people derive passion in acting, astronomy, science, computer programing, cooking, dancing, driving, exercising, family/relationship, fishing, health & wellness, investing, ministering, money, sports, praying, reading, singing, writing, teaching, travelling, swimming etc. This interest probably arose from childhood or experience of life.

Think back to when you were growing up, planning your future. What did you want to be when you grew up? A doctor? An engineer? An accountant, a pharmacist? A lawyer? A pilot? Etc. How did you come up with those occupations? It probably had something to do with things you lived to do or achievements you associated with those jobs.

Maybe you wanted to be a doctor because you had a passion for helping people; an athlete because you loved playing sports; a novelist because you were compelled to express yourself creatively.

Sometimes, I see entrepreneurs who have labored for a while and are on the verge of quitting, what comes to my mind is simply, they are not passionate about their business. Don’t get me wrong, one can still be passionate for a cause and still quit, especially when it’s not adding up, but the point I’m trying to share is the drive, believe, interest, determination, and test for the business will be determined by one’s passion never to give up when the challenges come up.

To determine one’s interest and passion, three ingredients come into play, they are love, faith, and hope. One interesting thing about this trial of excellence is that they are intertwined in one single umbrella – inspiration. According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, Faith- opens the doorway to inspiration. Hope powers the forward thrust of inspiration, Love gives divine direction to inspiration. Let’s analyze these qualities.

Love: As fondly stated, love is feeling, the same is applicable to passion. When you are passionate about a cause, the feeling will be different from that of someone who has a different passion. Your passion can be seen the way you love a person or business. You can’t love a person, business, or cause without making an effort to invest in it.

Faith:  This is what opens the door to inspiration. Do you know some people can be inspired by the faith you have in a project? It’s your faith in your business or “cause” you believe that will enable you to invest time and resources into the venture. It’s only fools and uninformed people who invest their time and resources in business ventures or relationships they have no interest or passion about.

Hope: This is the lubricant that fuels the energy to drive home your vision. When people see the vision and passion you have for a project, they will be inspired to join you in bringing it to fruition or reality.

In conclusion, just so you know, regardless of what you are doing or passionate about, just know, you will be tested, but when you are tested, just know the test is to know how much you believe in a project or person.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com