The what and how of ‘true calling’

What do you want to be when you grow up??

We have asked this question and have been asked this question numerous times in our life. At least I have been. For a very long time it was assumed that since dad was in the army, I would follow in his footsteps. Other times as I grappled with that question myself, I rarely if ever found a very quick route to where I am today and what I do.?

When I say what I do - I don’t only mean what I do for the work that I get paid for. We often assume that office work or paid work is what our true calling should be. I mean, the less the dissonance between what you want to do and what you do, the better it is for overall health. But not all of us get there in a straight line.?

That said, when we speak of calling - we think of it as ONE INEVITABLE THING. It’s like when you feel the kid kicking in your tummy and decide that this one is going to be a footballer - no two thoughts about it. And wonder of wonders, this kid wants to do drums! Haha! The kid also wants to write, run a company, be part of a band and play baseball on the weekends.?

So the kicking in the tummy is really no indication of the ONE thing that the kid wants to do. And that’s a great thing.?

Every choice is a pull in a different direction. Some directions don’t fit your life goals at the moment and you want to stay on the path well traversed. Or with some stroke of luck, it does fit and now you have to really really figure out what’s going on with you!?

Each of those pulls is a potential calling.?

???? I run, that’s a calling.?

???? I get a kick out of maintaining my diet, that’s a calling.?

???? I love spending time with my daughter and hope and pray that that continues for as long as forever, that’s a calling.?

???? I enjoy working with startups and helping set up their groundwork, that’s a calling.?

???? I enjoy chatting with people who want to explore where they are now, their possible tangents, that’s a calling.?

Take a minute here to jot down all the things that you think are your calling. Just take this full minute and come back to the article then.?

Done? Now read on.?

That’s the list of things that you want to throw yourself into right this moment, if everything else around was close to perfect. Those are things that you could be potentially great at, but one thing is for sure that you would definitely enjoy doing more of those things in your life.?

Each of those is a calling my friend and you are what they call a multipotentialite. Almost all of us are. I have found very few people who are very laser focused on just one thing - and that’s okay, that one thing is their calling.?

You having multiple callings is also okay.?

Now let me tell you what all you are allowed here. Not kidding, I have given myself permission for this. So here goes.

Honestly, you can do all that. No doubt about it.?

The problem is when we decide that because we are doing the things mentioned above, they might not be what we are meant to do.?

If you are meant to do something, do you think it’s alright to keep doing the same thing all your life? To me honestly that would mean irrational and definitely not characteristic of a calling. But that’s just my opinion.?

A calling is forgiving, flexible, compassionate and in the multitudes if it suits you. It’s perfectly human to not have one calling, and perfectly normal to have only one. You decide.?