calling |ˈkôliNG| noun
a strong urge toward a particular way of life or career; a vocation.
I hear a lot of people asking this question, “What is my calling?” Some verbalize this question almost verbatim. Others I meet don’t have words to form the right question, but the quiet desperation speaks volumes. Furthermore, some assume they have fully answered the question. Why would they feel this way? To admit that there are questions at that deep of a level might call for action and that would require too much of them.
I am not trying to throw stones, I am just naming what I see day in and day out with the leaders* I live and work with. No shame, just a real tension that we all experience.
I am not going to attempt to resolve this tension in a few hundred words, but I will say this:
What you do now might not be what
you are called to do (i.e. your calling);
BUT the way you do what you do
will point you in the right direction.
Everyone has tendencies and leanings in the way they go about their work. They have preferences that are leaned into due to their gifting and passions. Find those common denominators in the way you work well in all situations. They will point you to your calling.
Ask yourself some of these questions about the work you have done/are doing:
What do I enjoy most about my work?
What do I found difficult and disheartening about my work? If so, is there any way that doing it in a different way will help?
What do I get most excited about in my current job/work?
Do I like when problems are presented for me to solve or am I more driven by goals?
Do I like when I get to manage myself or when I am managed?
As you reflect on these questions hopefully the way you are called to work will emerge and in that you see more of your calling become a reality.
As your calling becomes more of reality, the more freedom and fulfillment you will have.
The more freedom and fulfillment, the better you can lead in the place that you live and move and have your being.
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*A leader is anyone that chooses to use their gifts and influence for the good of others.
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