Our Calling

            In the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (1993) the young protagonist, Santiago is in search of his life’s calling. In the book the term “personal legend” is used, but it denotes the same meaning as “calling.” While on his journey in search of his calling, Santiago meets King Melchizedek who explains what a personal legend is in these words:

It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish.  Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend. (Coelho, 1993, p. 22)

This passage brings to mind the profound words uttered by Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” (Pablo Picasso (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pablo_picasso.html).

            There are several important ideas expressed in these two quotations. First, that all of us have innate talents and strengths (I will discuss the distinction later) and that by following the paths that allow us to use our talents and strengths we can find our calling. In essence I am arguing that our “yearnings” and “clarity” as described in the first quote are manifest in our talents and strengths. Thus, if we can identify those things that we always dreamed of doing and then correspond these with our talents and strengths, we can then uncover our achievable “personal legends.” In this way our talents and strengths are indicators of a deeper and more personal life calling.

            Next is the insight that Picasso provides. Certainly, we all were in one way or another artists. This is not to say that we all wanted to be painters and the like, but that as one of my professors at BYU use to say “we all were creative until the world beat it out of us.” The “mysterious” something that Coelho mentions is the weight and pressure of the world, with its subsequent ephemeral brand of happiness. You see, the “ways of the world” tell us that being an “artist, teacher, entrepreneur, etc” are either “not real jobs where you can make money and be happy” or “too impossible to accomplish.” The forces of hedonism and materialism tell us that we must work and live to get more in order to be happy. When we buy into this worldview we often abandon or never fully discover our life’s callings.

            Hence, Coelho (1992) writes through the character Melchizedek, “People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them” (p. 130). In large part I believe that the fear that keeps us from defining and following our callings resides in two factors: First is our own self-doubt and fear of personal greatness. Along these lines Marianne Williamson (1992) writes:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Second is the unacknowledged reality that we have bought into hedonism’s enticing lie of material happiness. This is often reflected in our choice of profession and way of life. We have to ask ourselves “Why do I live in the way I do? Why do I work where I work?” While some of us work and live the way we do out of necessity, many of us live and work the way we do in order to get more stuff, prestige, or money. In other words we have abandoned our callings or never even tried to uncover them because we are caught on the hedonic treadmill busy getting and getting but never happy.

            But how do we uncover our strengths, talents, and life callings? Does, this mean quitting your job, and taking a year to “find yourself?” No.

             One of the best ways I have found to discover your life’s calling, is though developing a personal strategic life plan. Most successful organizations use a strategic planning process to come up with vision statements, mission statements, and supporting values. This type of process allows organizations to gain clarity on their direction, purpose, and operational principles.

            Similarly, a strategic life plan can help us sort out what kinds of work, life goals, and other activities can contribute to our happiness. First, we have to uncover our personal visions. I use the word “uncover” because I believe that all of us have a calling even if we do not know it. It is part of us; it is a driving force that if lived by will create conditions ripe for satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness.

References

Coelho, Paulo (1993). The Alchemist. NY, NY: HarperCollins.

Freidman, Stewart (2008). Total Leadership: be a better leader, have a richer life. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Williamson, Marianne (1992). A Return to Love: reflections on the principles of a course in miracles. Harpercollins.