Job vs Vocation
For years, I had jobs: jobs selling clothes, jobs selling food, jobs delivering papers, jobs as an assistant. They never filled my heart and soul, though the Silver Lining is that they did pay the bills. It wasn’t until I started doing hospice nursing and social work that I truly understood the meaning of a vocation. I was inherently drawn to this work and felt (with every cell of my being) that I was meant to do it. Though the work was incredibly challenging and often painful (after all, people were dying), I was inspired each and every day to continue.
My dear friend Kathy Freston wrote an article on her blog The Daily Lean that beautifully summarizes the difference between a job and vocation. It is also a beautiful encouragement to help you find your own vocation.
Job vs. Vocation by Kathy Freston
What’s the thing that lights you up from within, the passion that stirs you to action? What’s the thing that you could spend hours/days/weeks thinking about or working on without realizing the passage of time? What’s the thing that confounds you, that makes you so crazy to see (but that you can’t stop seeing even in your sleep)? What’s the injustice or insight that has a hold on you, beckoning your obsession? This is your calling, your mission, your deepest joy and satisfaction. It’s the thing that would have you be intensely present and inspired and excited should you follow through with your continued attention.
(A note here: If you don’t feel any stirring on this, don’t worry; it will come…just stay alert, engaged, and receptive with whatever you’re doing. And if you are just a little too devoted to “having a good time”, know that simple fun without depth does not make a fulfilling life…)
If you’ve been doing only what you “should” be doing in your life (holding down the job you don’t like or suppressing an interest because you don’t have time to indulge) doorways (into your own psyche and into worldly opportunities) will remain closed to you. You won’t even see them, actually. You’ll feel you’re living a half-life, contracted, like the light has drained out of you (and it will indeed have done so).
If, however, you begin to breathe some effort into that budding passion, the whole world will begin to magically open up to you. Doorways will appear, windows of light will open. All kinds of unexpected assistance will show up. You’ll have ideas, prospects, and synchronicities that will lead you to the next right step. And those steps will lead you to into a passionate life, a rich and purposeful existence. You’ll meet people with whom you feel a profound kinship, and you’ll cultivate a wisdom and creativity that will lead you to be highly effective. This doesn’t mean you should abandon your (mundane) responsibilities, but you can nurture that thing that’s tugging on your consciousness. That tug is your true vocation, and if you don’t focus on it, we all lose out on what you could have done.