The Best Part of Waking Up

I met one of the most inspiring men the other weekend. For him, I’m sure my brief interaction was no more than a flash in his entire life during which my existence fizzled away just as fast as someone else changed the subject. However, for me it was much more because of what he represents – passion. Only someone like this man, who whole-heartedly cares about what he does, is able to accomplish what he has and be where he is.

Tom Kelly is the Vice President of Communications for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. As mentioned above, my introduction to Tom only lasted seconds. Beyond that, I only got to watch him give a presentation and interact with others for about an hour. But that’s all the time anyone needed to see that Tom loves what he does and there’s never a moment he takes the easy road to fulfill his role.

Everyday Tom Kelly wakes up to tell the story of our nation’s best athletes, which happen to also be some of the best athletes in the world. Granted, Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn are easy stories to tell that sell themselves. Who doesn’t care about world champions or gold medalists? Even without knowing him, I can guarantee that that thought has never crossed Tom Kelly’s mind. Every athlete that he talked about, past and current, he did so with the utmost enthusiasm. He believes in their story, he believes in the sport and he believes in the Games. His dedication and zeal for his job was refreshing.

Tom Kelly is fortunate enough to have one of the most extraordinary jobs in the world, which is part of what feeds the passion. You know you have a special job and that you’ve accomplished something in life when you are the first person to greet Olympic athletes as they cross the finish line. However, just like the athletes, I’m sure Tom Kelly has made more than his fair share of sacrifices to be in that position.

Sacrifice is an essential element to achieving one’s goals and setting yourself apart from the pack. In that sense, true passion is what leads you to be not just accepting, but wanting to make the sacrifice. This makes the long-term achievements and journey that much more gratifying.

Following your passion is definitely easier said than done. It would be great to just take off and only do things you like, but it’s not in the cards for all of us. Especially coming from a society that leads us all to buy more than we can afford. But that’s not an excuse to bob through life without thought, which ultimately inhibits your ability to recognize what’s truly important to you as an individual. Like the rest of you, I’m constantly trying to avoid becoming stale and dead weight at my job. Regularly I try to recognize the basics that feed my fire. Throughout every day I try to interpret and calculate the moments that make me motivated to live. And not just live, but live passionately and accomplish something while I’m at it. He doesn’t know it, but for that reason Tom Kelly has become one of my life-long teachers.