Real financial security and freedom is not in our job but in our passion. It’s easy to define and evaluate a man by his pursuit. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your dream and the universe will open doors where there are only walls.”

In life, we’ll always be found doing any of these two things: either making a living or making a difference. Pensions(养老金) and salaries stop many from pursuing excellence while passion unlocks hidden potentials that equip us for challenges and opportunities. A job helps us make a living while passion enables us to make a difference.

I want to sincerely help to adjust and clarify the misguided belief among workers that a job is a means of livelihood. Rather, it should be a means to fuel our passion. The earlier you realize this basic truth of life, the more clearly you’ll be able to position yourself in living a life of impact and value.

The success of Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC) shows how meaningful it is to pursue your passion instead of your pension. Its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, didn’t realize this until he was given his first social security check of 105 dollars. But he decided that there surely was something to do for himself and other people instead of living on that small pension. He was determined to engage himself in what brought him impact and value. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s special recipe for fried chicken, he invented “finger-licking” seasoning with eleven spices and herbs. Despite much rejection, he managed to round up some investors and promote company’s rapid expansion to more than 6,000 locations. Sander’s life pointed towards two facts about making a difference: one, there is no age that is too old to make a difference; two, there is nothing too small or insignificant to make a difference with, as long as it is your passion.

What do you think of the difficulties in life? Can you picture how strong people will be if they have dreams?

Felicia Grimmmenhag from Sweden doesn’t let anything get in her way, even a life-changing accident. After a serious car accident, Felicia had to depend on a wheelchair to get around. However, she didn’t quit trying to achieve her dream. She wanted to get back on the horse. It was her dream to be a top horse rider. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to. But after ten weeks’ training, she could ride once again. “The horses have meant a lot to me,” Felicia said. She took part in competitions around the world. Last year, she won silver at the Tokyo Paralympics (残奥会).

This year, at 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, another girl—Zhang Mengqiu, a Chinese skier, also made her dream come true. She won China’s first Alpine skiing gold on March 6, 2022. Zhang has cerebral palsy (脑瘫) and was introduced to Alpine skiing in 2016 and joined the national team a year later. Because of her physical disadvantage, Zhang is a little slower than others and needs to put in more hours in practice to learn the sport’s skills. But she never says giving up during practice-and competitions. Also, she has that type of personality that believes success will finally come one day.

From their stories, we can learn that nobody in the world can stop you from following your dream. You are the only person that sets your own limits (限制).

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My shoe lesson number one:

Back in my days as a salesman, I was on my way to deliver a speech in Newfoundland. Sitting comfortably in the airplane seat, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat（汗水）as I realized I had left my dress shoes at home. I was wearing running shoes for an important speech.

I knew I could buy a new pair when I landed. Too late; the stores were already closed. What about in the morning? No, the next day was Sunday and my speech was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Ninety seconds later, however, my cold sweat has been replaced with a single idea.

The next morning, I began my speech, "You might be wondering why I am wearing running shoes today. Well, it's about this request here. When I'm done speaking, I'll be running door to door and I want every one of you to come running with me, too." My little "goof-up" became a clever demonstration（示范）of action speaking louder than words.

My shoe lesson number two:

My brother was getting married. We had just seen the signing of the papers at their house, and they were rushing over to another place for the ceremony. As we locked up their house, my wife's shoes broke. So we flew off to the nearest shoe store. We knew they would wait for us before starting the ceremony. What we did not know was how long they would wait.

That day, my wife performed a miracle（奇迹）that no other woman had done before or since. She went into the store and came out just five minutes later with the perfect pair of shoes.

Perhaps the most important lesson here is that, opposite to popular belief, the shoe does not make the man or woman. But the lack（缺乏）of shoes can surely build character.