I know, I know. Passion has almost become cliché.

Almost.

You can call it something else, if you’d like, but without it, our world would still be back in the dark ages. No automobiles, no laser surgery, no iPhone (!), no electricity, no Internet, no air conditioning(!), no moon landing. . . Our lives would be quite a bit simpler—and, likely, quite a bit shorter.

The other day, I was writing an email to a client when, suddenly, I had this overwhelming feeling of complete and unrestrained joy wash over me. I could actually feel it physically. Of all the things I could be doing at that moment, I was writing an email to a client about some small issue related to the development of her website. And I couldn’t be happier!

To be honest, this feeling is no stranger to me. We meet all the time, usually when I am hunched over the keyboard, desperately trying to find a word or phrase that exactly describes what I want my reader to understand.

I LOVE everything about being a writer. I would do it even if it didn’t pay. (Thankfully, it does.)

At the time, I was sitting at a table in a gourmet food shop owned by a good friend who also happens to be a world-renowned chef. I turned to him and asked him if, when he was doing something as simple as cutting an onion, he had ever experienced that feeling.

He had.

I started thinking about it and realized that passion—in life, in general—could well be the deciding factor when it comes to everything from work satisfaction to happiness. If you find something that gets your motor running, I mean really turns your crank, you can bet that feeling of joy and happiness will be right in your face.

Many of the people I meet every day are passionate about what they do. But some are not. Some are barely showing up. And I find that sad. Each moment that passes that does not inspire passion, that deep-down-in-your-belly feeling that can bring joy to your existence, is a moment lost. Forever.

And that’s the real tragedy.