Many people’s dearest wish is to have a calling – something that they are meant to bring to the world that gives their own lives deep fulfillment and offers something meaningful and important to others. When asked what their calling might be, they talk about sharing laughter and deep conversations, offering healing and light, and transforming lives using gentleness and care. Some want to share their calling in the world as a career and others want to share themselves with their family and friends. These people seem to know what would bring them profound joy and offer a unique contribution to the world. So what stops them? Fear of being overwhelmed.
If we were to truly give ourselves to something, whether it is a commitment to kindness or ending world hunger, our fear is that our lives would never be the same. Our days would be filled with to-do lists, our nights with worry, and our conversations would become boring as we repeat the same thing over and over.
These fears paralyze us. We experience numbness or gnawing dissatisfaction, or sometimes deep emptiness. We know we are not in the right place for us and sometimes it doesn’t seem like there is a right place. We feel trapped between dissatisfaction and the unknown, and the dissatisfaction seems safer.
The reality is that our lives would never be the same if we made our personal commitment, but not in the ways we fear. Our days would be filled with peaceful contemplation and joyful action, our nights would be filled with delicious rest, and our conversations would forge deep connections and inspire others to live their own dreams. We would experience freedom.
Everyone has a calling, a unique perspective and gift meant to be shared, whether we are aware of it or not. Everyone’s hope is that their calling will arrive as powerfully as a lightning bolt because we think this will galvanize us into action, that if we knew beyond a doubt what was ours to do, we would be filled with the courage to do it. While this does happen, for most of us, our calling is whispering in our ear every day. It is up to us to hear it (sometimes with the help of those who know us best) and to take the step. Instead of being overwhelmed, we’ll find that there is nothing more freeing than experiencing and sharing our true selves.
the Living Economy 