Zeal

Zeal can have a negative connotation, but that is typically in the context of someone who is overzealous, to the detriment of others. Zeal itself is a force for good, again an invisible force for good.

Zeal is the appetite with which we should be experiencing and savoring life. What zeal means is that for each major activity we are involved, we are doing it with commitment and passion. Zeal comes when we really enjoy what we are doing and/or we are making a contribution to humankind. When it is an “and” as opposed to an “or” situation, the zeal is more than doubled.

Once again, let me ask: what would the world be like in the absence of the invisible force of zeal? Not only would things be far less enjoyable, but many things would simply never get done. We would be living in a very different world altogether, and we would probably be somewhere back in the Dark Ages.

If zeal is not an important part of your life, then you need to take a hard look at what you are doing and try to figure out what changes may be in order. Change is not easy, but life is too short to be lived without zeal.

“Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

Discussion

What are you zealous about and why?
What major activity are you involved in where you do so without zeal, and how might this be changed?