Why Finding Your Calling In Life Can Save Your Life9 min read

There’s a lot of pressure to find your calling. Why haven’t you figured it out yet?

Everyone else did. Or it seems. It seems that everyone is where they’ve envisioned themselves to be.

But how come you’re still spinning your wheels? You might be going from one job to the next.

Or that temporary job you thought was temporary, wasn’t. And now you’re 5+ years in too deep.

Or you thought you found the one but like an ex-lover the both of you have grown distant.

So, here you are, feeling empty, unfulfilled, without meaning or joy in your life.

You’re also thinking is this it? But you’re also wondering there has to be more.

But, you’ve spent some years moving about the world without direction. Sort of like a tumbleweed in the desert. You’ve spent some years affixed to a job out of comfort and fear.

You’ve spent some years feeling your way in the dark, looking for a light switch.

Looking for anything that can grab you by the arm and pull you through the hole that you’ve dug yourself in.

Time is running out.

But here’s the good news, you already know what to do.

Find The Hidden Answers From Your Free-Spirited Childhood

You used to love it when you were younger. There are so many untapped insights that we’ve gained from our childhood.

What were you obsessed with as a child? Think about the one thing your caregivers asked you to stop doing or put away. Access those childhood memories to discover the gifts you lost connection to.

Even as a young adult, what’s the one thing you started to pursue but someone told you, you couldn’t make money doing it?

Could you find a way now? Think about old passions. Was there something you pursued but when you failed at it you quit? Revisit it.

Often, unbeknownst to adults they shut down our creative pursuits. As a result, you trashed the idea. Or shoved it so deep inside of your psyche that you forgot it existed.

For example, I loved to write as a child. In the first grade, I had a traumatic experience with a teacher. After I had finished writing my letters, the teacher shamed me. She held up my paper to the entire classroom and said this wasn’t the way to do it.

She pointed out the deficiencies in my writing. And since English wasn’t my first language, the experience slashed my core into pieces.

And somewhere along the way, I lost the confidence because I stopped writing.

What happened to you? Who said it? What did they say?

Don’t believe what they said because what they said wasn’t true.

Whatever you had a love for––whatever you couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning to do––whatever you fell asleep doing -– can still be yours.

Whatever you used to beg your family to buy so you can do more of, that still can be yours too.

So, take a moment to reflect on what used to hold your attention. That one activity you did for hours on end at a time that also brought you so much joy.

Because that one thing could become the thing.

The Cruel Truth About Time

Do you have time to figure it out? Is it too late? Are you so far gone that you have no choice but to accept your fate?

You’re not. It isn’t too late, and you can start exactly where you are.

It’s not that you don’t know deep down what you want out of life. Sometimes it’s a matter of being multi-passionated. However, the society we live in doesn’t always support those who are multi-passionated.

Society says you have to pick one thing for the rest of your life. You don’t have to. You can choose to experiment as many times as you want and as often as you want.

Elizabeth Gilbert articulates this well. She says to let go of passion and follow your curiosity instead. Because leading with curiosity will lead you to your passion.

You might become overwhelmed and excited by the varying possibilities. Which, in return can leave you stuck because you’re not sure which direction to go first.

When I quit social work, I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life in those three years. But I chased the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

Even more so, in those three years, I went from job to job, to career to career. I felt guilty about it. It felt wrong.

My friends couldn’t keep up with what I was doing. There were times I secretly envied their life of stability.

But this journey led me to two realizations. One, I already knew what I wanted to do with my life. Two it was okay for me to explore what brought the most meaning to my life. After hearing Elizabeth Gilbert, I finally made peace with those three years.

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

Rosa Parks

So, I’m challenging you today. Make a decision. Right here. Right now. For the sake of curiosity.

You already know. Deep down you do.

Disappointments may suck, but regrets live on for a lifetime. It’s better to explore sooner than later. Be the hummingbird that Elizabeth Gilbert talks about.

“Live full. Die empty.”

Les Brown

The Negatives Transform Into Positives

When you think about your calling, negative thoughts begin to appear the way the sea rises to the shore. These thoughts further cement you and distance you from your calling.

For example, my cousin is an amazing chef. People cancel their commitments to have a seat at her table.

Despite how many years have passed people still talk about her food.

But it isn’t something she’s pursuing, no matter how much she loves it. No matter the amount of joy and happiness that drips from her eyes, she won’t pursue it out of fear.

Some of you found fulfillment where you are, and that’s incredible. But for those of you who can’t seem to shake the feeling of something missing. Of doing something other than what you’re doing, do you find yourself repeating these phrases?

  • Come on; I can’t make money doing that!
  • I just can’t do that right now because…
  • It’ll take too much for me too..
  • I would love to be able to do that but I can’t…
  • No one will enjoy it as much as I like it. It’s just a hobby. Just because you like it what about the rest of the world? Will they?
  • I can’t because…
  • What if I’m rejected?
  • It’ll never happen because…
  • That’s just not possible because…
  • I don’t have time because…
  • What if I do it and it doesn’t work?
  • What if I fail?
  • I don’t have the time.

You’re not alone, many people forgo these desires and label them as foolishness. But they never actually go away. They hover around you wondering when you’ll take flight.

You’ve ignored your calling for far too long. You’ve said one day. Well, one day is demanding your attention today.

Now is the time to be honest with yourself. The rest of your life depends on this brutal confrontation.

Fear Terrorizes You Every Day

It’s understandable, pursuing your calling is uncomfortable and scary.

http://iloveugly.com

Sad to say but most of you won’t ever try. You’ve already discounted yourselves. Took yourselves out of the game before you could even swing the bat.

You’ve thought of a million and one ways that it won’t work. But have you sat down for five minutes to explore the million and one ways that it will work?

Open up the doors to possibilities. The doors have been waiting for you since the very first day you clung to your dreams.

Everyone’s scared. During my three years of exploring, I went two and a half years without a salary with a child in high school.

I became an introvert that navigated an extroverted world. Fear gripped me every day.

You’re anxious about starting. That’s normal. You’re also going to fail. It’s inevitable, but that’s okay. It’s all part of the process.

“Mistakes are proof that you’re trying.”

Samantha Snyder

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not living. Old stories and childhood baggage are the scary stuff that is holding you back.

You’re here on this Earth for a reason.

Every last one of you has gifts and talents. Both can become further deepened through exploration and curiosity.

But only if you try and only if you believe.

Surrender Yourself to the Possibilities

Your dreams have always been there with you. They’re waiting for you to let them out.

As a child, you chased them and played with them. Then somehow someone told you it wasn’t worth pursuing.

But it continued to gnaw at your soul. So you’re caught in this tug-of-war of desire and doubt.

You’re tangled up with fear and sleeping at night with comfort. Then waking up without hope.

When you decide to pursue your dreams, you will come to life.

It’s like trying to revive a car in which the battery died using jumper cables. Once that electricity sparks the car becomes alive again.

You’ll make amends with the old baggage. You’ll let go of what-if stories that are holding you back and write new ones. You won’t have to wonder anymore.

What was once missing in your life, will now reveal itself. You will feel whole, connected, and rooted.

“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”

Wizard of Oz

The world needs more of you. More of what you have to offer. Release it before time takes its course.

Do you know someone who could benefit from reading this article? Please share it.

Be sure to follow on Instagram so you can be inspired to defy the resistance.

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