You Have a Calling and a Distraction

Not knowing your calling may be a distraction

I have a calling and several distractions. Fear is the biggest of them all. Doubt is also one of them. The doubt that I can't be who I’m called to be. Fear allows doubt to whisper in my ears, “Forget this calling of yours and get your head out of the clouds.” It tells me to forget my calling and get a stable job instead. But “getting a job” is also another distraction to my calling.

I've gone through life with a clear sense, sometimes nagging feeling that I’m not living up to my full potential. An understanding that there’s more to life than just getting a job, getting married, having kids, and saving enough money for a comfortable retirement. I have a sense there is a way bigger purpose for me.

My calling and my distractions grow stronger each day. They both keep me up at night.

It is the tug on your soul

I thought finding my purpose meant discovering some great calling or doing important things in the world like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. did. Fear tells me I’m no Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King is too great of a man to compare.

Fear and doubt whisper these things but we were all put here for a reason; with our unique personalities, skills, passions, and points of view. Your skill could be art, poetry, designing, speaking, drawing, storytelling, painting, dancing, or singing. Mine is to write.

The hardest part for me has been just showing up despite the distractions and doing what I’m called to do. I waited around so for so long. I felt called to write and I didn't. If you feel called to make art, then you were put here to make art. If you feel called to draw, paint, sing, write, record, build, design, or explore, then you were put here to do just that. But your calling comes with its distractions.

With all the possibilities and desires, it can be hard sometimes to make sense of what your calling is and what’s a fleeting desire. Desires and whims are important and can be excellent tools in guiding you toward what you need next in your life, but it’s important to distinguish between the two.

When I think about my calling, I feel stronger and empowered. When I think about my distractions, I’m weak and disempowered.

The Hardest Part is Showing Up

Callings draw you toward them. They start as a tiny nagging thought or feeling, then consume your mind and drive your everyday life. I started writing in notebooks as a kid. I then created stories on sheets of paper that my class enjoyed. I grew up admiring authors like Jude Deveraux. I collected her books. I wrote in my journal and that nagging feeling grew strong every day that I finally took a writing course and started blogging.

The feeling grows stronger because I am yet to work on that book that's growing roots in my soul. It's a calling that I can't shake off. There is a sense of urgency and a strong inclination to follow a calling. They start deep inside of us, stirring and growing over time until they can’t be ignored any longer.

Both my calling and my distractions grow stronger. They keep tugging and keeps me up at night. When I think about my calling, I feel stronger and empowered. When I think about my distractions, I'm weak and disempowered.

Ignoring my calling left me feeling frustrated, unfulfilled, antsy, and very discontent with my life and career because they weren't in alignment with my soul purpose for me.

We came here knowing what we were going to do.

Most People Say They Don't Know

But that's a lie. You know. You've known all along. I knew all along what I was supposed to be doing. Distractions are to blame for not knowing. That's its point. I've known since I was 7. I didn't take action until I was 30.

You know your calling. Your mother knows. She can tell you the thing you loved to do as a child. Children know their calling because they have no distractions.

My daughter can turn any situation into a story. She can make songs out of them. I have reason to believe storytelling could be her calling. When she grows up and makes excuses about not knowing, I will be sure to remind her.

Your friends may know about your passions. Ask them what they see as your calling. Notice which responses elicit a feeling of “yes that's it!” in you.

Think about what you used to love doing as a child. Did you like to go out exploring, did you love nature, did you like to play games, art, musical instruments or drawing? What? Pay attention to the things that replenish and drains your energy.

A flow state is most likely to occur when the task we’re performing is something that both meets our desires and draws on our gifts. We are in flow state when we do what we are called to do. Getting in touch with these experiences can provide powerful clues. Not knowing your calling is an excuse. It was my excuse and distraction.

Your calling gives you energy. Your distraction drains it.

Hearing Its Sound

We came here knowing what we were going to do. Life is full of distractions, but they serve a purpose. They show us what drains our energy.

Whether you feel called to make art or change the course of global warming, all callings are about contributing to the world through your words, actions, presence, and creations.

What activities energize you? What activities can you count on to lift your spirits? What puts you in “flow” state? That’s your calling!

The biggest distraction from my calling is fear. What is yours?

Not knowing my calling was a distraction from my calling.