Passion is something that cannot be manufactured. You either have it or you do not. You can have it and lose it. And you can also find it.

I believe humans were made—born—to be passionate about something.

The word passion comes from the Latin passio, meaning “suffering” or “enduring,” from pati: “to suffer.” Long before passion came to mean enthusiasm, excitement, or desire, it meant to suffer for something.

Perhaps that is still the best definition.

If you find yourself indifferent, apathetic, or detached from whatever it is you are engaged in, perhaps you should seek out that which brings enthusiasm, excitement—even pain and suffering—into your life. That which floods your soul and your whole being with the messy spectrum of being alive: the good and the bad, the painful and the ugly, the magic and the struggle.

Because passion does not make struggle disappear. It gives us something worth struggling for.

A team. A craft. A business. Your friendships. Your family. A patch of earth. A cause. A life you are trying to build.

And perhaps the simplest way to know whether you are truly passionate about something—whether you really care—is to ask yourself:

Are you willing to fight for it?