Career vs. Calling: Is your occupation fulfilling?
My generation (generation X or Y… I can’t quite figure it out) has been raised to value the all importance of one’s CAREER. We were told, “Go to school and get a good education so you can get a good job, and you’re set for life!”. We have been raised by a generation who still believes in corporate America. (Even though there have been many career casualties — aka “pink slips” — in this generation. It often happens, “coincidentally”, just before these people get to retire and enjoy their pension.
But the climate of Corporate America has changed in the last two decades. Professionals are no longer being taken care of by the corporate machine. This whole scenario warrants its own diatribe. We’ll discuss it in detail another time.
I really want to talk about the difference between a career and a CALLING. We all know there’s a difference between a JOB and a CAREER. Yet many people are content with “a good job”. Others take pride in the growth and development of the all-important career. Maybe this career was the natural progression from your education. Or maybe it’s in a completely different field. (And you justify not “using your education” because the money is good, the location is good… or whatever the case may be.) But how many people can honestly say they were born to do what they’re currently occupied doing?
A CALLING is that thing that you were BORN to do. It’s that thing that has been in the back (or front) of your mind since you were a child. A few people are lucky enough to find their way ONTO this path early. More often, it takes some sort of existential crisis to wake a person up to the fact that they’re NOT fulfilling that duty. And most people endure several such crises before they awake to, and answer this calling.
I’ve been in the process of this awakening for a couple of years. For as much as I’d like to say it’s all “love and light”, I cannot honestly say this is always the case. I get flashes of brilliance. These keep me on track. Most of the time, I fight entropy. But even though it takes a higher initial investment of intention to maintain the higher road, it always proves to be more nourishing to the soul.
My calling is all about VISION. It encompasses aesthetic (design, color, art, geometry, photographic composition), perceptic (interpersonal, circumstantial, practical) and systematic (seeing patterns and processes). This is the broad interpretation. I believe it is necessary to first find the general vicinity of the calling, especially if one’s interests and talents are diverse. Now I am trying to narrow it down to 2 or 3 symbiotic activities that I can run either simultaneously, or parallel to one another.
I am also becoming more interested with forming alliances with other professionals who are fulfilling THEIR duty to their higher call. I realize that if I’m born to do something specific, I should do THAT THING, and not worry about being good at EVERYTHING!
The greater challenge is to let go of, or DELEGATE, the other activities. Obviously, things like accounting cannot be let go of. This is the perfect opportunity to enlist someone to fulfill their calling! It is really a simple notion. But it is one that is so easy to overlook. In the age of INDEPENDENCE, we have become resistant to seeking assistance.
I have already lived most of my “career objectives”. But I am still left knowing that I have yet to truly pursue my calling. This has been the subject of much deliberation and intention examination. I then take inventory. I have worked (jobs, not careers OR callings) in retail, consumer finance, law and clerical. I have successfully navigated career paths in graphic design, web design, web art direction, project management, as an architectural and interior design assistant, and even as the vice president of our own graphic and web design business!
Yet, there was always something missing. Despite the success I have enjoyed in these areas, I still did not feel fulfilled. For a long time, I thought I was just being finicky. But when asked if I would continue these careers if I was not being PAID, I had to say, “No way, Jose!”
I believe we have the responsibility to not only pursue our passions, but to also SHARE our abilities. In this way, we will have more happy and fulfilled individuals, all helping one another AND being compensated for it.
Answer the call! Share your gift! Enjoy watching your loved ones thrive!
**How are you living your calling? Please leave a comment about your calling**
