If you’re Not Living your Passions, you’re just Marking Time

If you’re not living, your passions every day, why not? If you’re just marking time, why are you?

My friend Kent Greene was a man of many passions. He loved his wife Julie and family, he relished good food, he enjoyed being a professional sales rep, his sense of humor was infectious and most of all he was a man of God.

I met Kent and Julie when I was hiring a sales rep in New Orleans. Since my previous rep did not succeed, I took a more deliberative hiring approach. Kent wanted the job and demonstrated it by sending me a Federal Express package with a letter detailing his extreme interest and a ballpoint pen to sign his offer letter.

Needless to say, I hired him and never regretted the decision. We worked together for more than 10 years of the 28 years that he was my friend.

Our relationship was always greater and closer than a working relationship. Our conversations when we worked together, and in the years that we didn’t work together, covered a broad array of subjects, and were most enjoyable. Kent was younger than I am so we felt that we had many years of friendship ahead of us.

In late May of 2018, a change occurred that threatened Kent’s life and changed our perspective about time, and living our passions while we can.

I contacted Kent about a local news story in Louisiana, and he informed me that he had just been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. I was stunned. Then I told him that I also was dealing with cancer, but with a more hopeful prognosis.

Knowing that his time of feeling healthy was very short, I scheduled a three-day trip to visit with him. Our visit was amazing in that we relived past experiences that caused us to laugh, talked about preparing for his homecoming, and shared our faith in God’s provision and timing for us.

After returning home, I made it a point to text, email, or call Kent daily with a message that would inspire him and take his mind off of what he faced. Immediately upon the news of his diagnosis, he turned everything over to God. He would tell me that “God’s plan is perfect and His timing is perfect”, and that he trusted God to take care of him as he experienced the dreadful progression of the disease.

I told Kent that I was completing Unwelcome Opportunity about my challenges and asked for his opinion of the manuscript, the cover design, and when the best time to release it. He encouraged me that the story would inspire others, and provided me invaluable feedback as I proceeded with the publishing process. It provided him an opportunity to divert his attention and utilize his brain.

His passion for God’s provision delivered more encouragement to me than I believe that I gave to him. I knew that he didn’t have time to write his story to inspire others after his passing but strongly believed that it was essential for others to hear his faith.

Speaking to him one day, I suggested that he create a video and put it on YouTube so that people could see his faith and story for the foreseeable future. He said that he would pray about it.

I sent him an email encouraging him to make the video. He again said that he would pray about it.

Next, I sent him a text asking, “How do you know that my suggestion wasn’t God using me to speak with you”? Shortly, he replied that he would share his faith in a video.

Kent had a compulsive nature and completed the video in a matter of days. I’m so glad that he did as his health deteriorated quickly afterward.

You must see his video on YouTube under the title, Amazing Joy before Death. You will want to share it with as many people as possible.

Kent’s closing quote was very moving and offered great words to live by. He said, “A happy heart is a thankful heart, and a thankful heart is a happy heart.”

Kent was glad that he left the video for the future, and was thrilled to learn that others benefitted from it before his passing. He encouraged me to create a video also and pushed me to release Unwelcome Opportunity as soon as possible.

Kent maintained his faith in God’s plan and timing, and his positive outlook on life to the end. He passed away at 58 years-old on October 18, 2018.

He didn’t live to see the book that he advised me with published, but he pursued his passions of life until the end. One day, we’ll resume our friendship together.

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Every day is a gift from God. Marking time by doing things that we are not passionate about or don’t fit into God’s plan for us is a waste of the present that we have been given.

Find your passion(s) and pursue them!

© 2019 — Richard V. Battle — First published in Conquering Life’s Course: Common Sense in Chaotic Times