engevik
Ideas for Discovering Your True Calling in Life
We wouldn't be human if we didn't question from time to time why we are floating around on planet earth. Are we here to simply survive?
To have fun? To work until our bones are weary? The answer to these questions most likely varies from person to person. We each have a different beat to which we groove...and that is what makes the world go round.
What happens when you reach a crossroads that finds you searching high and low for your purpose? When you find yourself at work blankly staring at your computer screen thinking "I can't do this anymore. This is simply not me..."? You know that if you were to follow your passion and leave your current job behind, it would cost you financially. People close to you may think you mad. You may fail and this scares you to the core.
If you've reached this point in life, you may want to give the following a try:
1. Begin journaling. Keep a daily journal of your thoughts. Share your passions, fears, hopes and dreams. Writing clears the cobwebs from the mind and helps you to think constructively.
2. Get a therapist or life coach. Finding someone impartial to talk to helps beyond all belief. A good one will help you dig into the core of your being and develop solutions to take you to the next level.
3. Invest in a large drawing tablet. Go to your nearest office supply or crafts store and buy a large tablet on which you can map your dreams out. Make lists of pros and cons. Set goals. Develop timelines. Draw. Scribble down affirmations. Make to do lists. Wildly enough, your dream/goal/inspiration tablets will help make your most inner thoughts concrete. Don't be surprised if one day you pull your tablets out of the closets or from underneath your couch and discover that you accomplished many of your goals and dreams.
4. Get working out. By getting in shape, you will have more stamina to make wise decisions and enable yourself to take a giant leap of faith. The mind/body connection can't be overlooked.
5. Realize that Reality is what you make it. It is all too easy to let everyone else set the rules for your life. You have been conditioned by your parents, relatives, friends, church, government, politicians, and more as to how life should be viewed. If you were taught from the time you were a child that the world is a big, scary place and people are freaky -- you probably have accepted this as fact. On the contrary, if you were told that the world is your oyster and is full of opportunity -- you most likely believe the world is a magical and amazing place.
It takes a mental 360 and a bit of faith to move from a fearful & limiting perspective to one of possibility.
I have often thought it fascinating that once I am made aware of something new in my world - I begin to realize that I have been surrounded by it all along. I was just blind to it. An example is the geocaching phenomena. I had no idea that all around us are hidden treasures placed throughout the world by geocachers, a group of people who hide treasures and then input the latitude and longitude coordinates into the www.geocaching.com Website. The first time I gave this a try, I was thrilled and amazed that all along there are been adventurers playing the game and having a ball.
Opportunity is all around us -- we just have to channel into it. As a journalism student in my college days at USC, we were taught how network news identifies breaking news, and if the story was shocking enough, producers look for other similar stories. Once identified, they reveal the most shocking breaking news such as a horrific shooting in downtown LA. Then they bring to light other shootings in nearby areas. Pretty soon, newswatchers are thinking there are shootings everywhere....when in reality most neighborhoods are safe and sound. My question remains - what if they were to point out the positive? We just may begin to see the good that surrounds us.
It is one thing to discover what your calling is in life - but if you have a possibility problem. You may not get very far.
I'm going to be blunt now - so please forgive me if I make you squirm...
You are going to die. I am going to die. We are all going to die. So what the heck are we trying to live so carefully for? So that we can be 99 after living a safe and boring life? No thank you.
I took a huge chance to leave a well paying job and work as a freelance writer. Has it always been easy? Definitely not. Have I had fun? Yes. Without a doubt. The benefits have been that I am now writing from Scandinavia - I can work from anywhere I choose. I can study people and enjoy new cultures.
But are you rich?...you may be asking. My answer is Yes & No. My life is rich...my soul is amazed...I am damn happy to not be stuck. I'm not rich like Paris Hilton...I don't own a large home. I have worked to pair down my life -- no storage unit, no boxes stacked high in a garage. After a recent move, I got rid of nearly everything I didn't need. Who knows what the future holds financially...but I really do have faith that with hard work it will be amazing.
You create your reality and are only as stuck as you allow yourself to be. To truly discover our callings in life...we have take giant leaps and know that we will find wings with which to fly...
- Jen Engevik
Project BE Bold