What are we supposed to do?
Much of my free time in college was spent reading books about starting a business, traveling the world, and generally living a non-suburban life. My friends and I would photograph the world around us, write stories, send typewritten letters in reply to credit card offers, and discuss communication and design. Much thought was poured out at Deet's Place and the Underground as we wrestled with hopes and dreams and how much they might be accomplished.
(I feel like some kind of idealist hipster after reading the above....nevertheless, that's what we often did)
Then I left most of those pursuits in southwest Virginia and started my first post-college job. After years of doing what I was supposed to do and beginning to dream about following a different road, I began...
...to do what I was supposed to do.
Which was what?
Get a good job in my degree field with a good company that gave good benefits and a good chance of making it through any economic volatility. Do well, move up, perhaps move to a different company, repeat. Succeed.
To my bewilderment and frustration, this pathway to success seemed to require me to lock what I love to do in some closet in the basement of my heart, perhaps to be opened on weekends and vacations. What is an admirable and perfectly good road for many people seemed not so for me.
So what am I supposed to do? Do I have a God-given calling and purpose that has significance when it comes to my work and vocation? If I listen to my life (as Jeff Goins suggests in his wonderful The Art of Work), what does it tell me about my skills and passions?
I have a sneaking suspicion I've been burying the skills and abilities that matter most to me, with which I can make the greatest contribution to this world .
We each have only one life to give, one life to steward. To be less than ourselves is to surrender.
I wish to be all that God made me to be. This year, more than ever, I'll be focused on that journey of discovery.
What race are you running? I'd love to hear!