Is Passion Over Rated?

If you google "passion quotes" and click images, the page will quickly populate with quotes singing the praises of passion.

So I guess I just wont pay my bills, because I do not feel passionately about this. And if you are student, make sure that you only do your homework when you feel passionately about it. Is this good advice?  The next time you take out the garbage remember to do it with passion...or not.

I prefer Nike's "Just do it." There things that we do everyday that are routine, mundane, and necessary. If we have the opportunity to do something that we are passionate about or to do something with passion once a day, we are fortunate and privileged.

Some people are living out their dreams, and these people inspire us to do what we love, but I think it is important to remember that those people living "the dream" are a minority.

Okay, do you see a problem with this?  Yes, some exceptionally fortunate people will do this, but for most people, in my opinion, this is not a realistic goal.

As a sidebar, I would like to point out that I like teaching, and find it rewarding. Sometimes, I even do it passionately, but it is hard for me to mark papers with passion, no matter how brilliantly they are written.

I am actually one of the lucky ones. I have a job that I like, and not only that my job allows my inner multipotentialite to thrive. I have taught Special Education and English Language Learning at both elementary and secondary levels. Furthermore, I have taught Math and Social Studies at the elementary level. At the secondary level, I have taught Journalism, Media Arts, Yearbook Production, and English. I even taught Foods and Nutrition. And, now I am teaching Independent Studies.

However, once upon a time I worked in retail, and the moments felt like hours. You would be right if you said passion was not my pay check in this case. (By the way, quote writers, pay check is two words.) You might argue that I should have put more passion into my sales job.  After all, we are supposed to do everything with passion or no do it.

Am I making passion synonymous with a positive attitude? Possibly. And it is possible that if we polish up our attitudes, we do get more out of what we perceive as a negative situation. It is just sometime, I run out of polish, and fail to shine.

And let's face if we did everything with passion, how would we know what we are passionate about because everything would be shiny and good?

Is passion over rated? What are your thoughts on these quotes?