Your Calling Has Nothing to Do with Your Paycheck

But everything to do with the voice inside you

“The calling voice of God is sounding out in the caves and caverns deep beneath the soil of our souls. And it is by obeying this call we learn who we truly are and what we can become.”

— Bob Benson, See You At The House

What makes a calling a calling?

Is it a job title?

Is it round the clock enjoyment of a vocation?

Does finding your calling mean being considered a “professional” in your dream work?

And then what even constitutes “dream work?”

I often feel called to write.

Is “writing” my dream work?

Do I need to become a “professional” writer then?

And how am I to do that, exactly?

Can I be self-published or do I have to be traditionally published?

If it’s truly my calling then shouldn’t I be getting compensated?

And if it’s based on earnings — then where is the cut off point between amateur status and pro status? $1? $100? $1000?

Is it gauged by one’s number of followers?

Email subscribers?

Claps? Instagram likes?

Who is the governing authority that can grant us a seat at the calling table?

Who has the verdict on our standing in the universe?

Many are called but few show up

If you are reading this article right now and are at all zapped deep in your marrow by the kinds of questions posed above, then you have likely heard whispers of the call.

It’s like the electrocution of your funny bone — except it’s not your funny bone — it’s your identity bone.

You know the angst I am talking about.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re always searching for that thing we’re supposed to do — that thing we were made to do.

We may not always be thinking about it. We may, from time to time, successfully distract ourselves with numbing agents or activities of little to no consequence.

But in those quiet moments that we can not escape — those moments at night when our screens are finally off and our heads hit the pillow.

We wonder, like Rey from Star Wars, what our place is in all of this.

If we would only pause for a moment.

If we would simply allow ourselves to believe in magic.

If we would open ourselves up to the possibility that there might be creative forces at work.

Forces in the universe that are pursuing us with loving affection and trying to reveal the path ahead for us.

Then perhaps we would find our way.

I would posit that these forces do exist, and that they manifest in a multitude of ways — but most often in the form of a voice.

It is the voice inside you that aches to be heard.

The Inner Voice

Think about the natural process of a tiny seed for a moment.

If a seed can be born — and endowed with a knowledge of what it is supposed to be; if it can come pre-wired with the intention and strength and fruitfulness to not only carry out its own purpose, but to perpetuate itself as well; if it can contain within it an inner calendar that inherently knows how and when all of this should be done, then why is it so hard to believe that the same potential exists deep within us?

If fruits and vegetables and wild flowers and all sorts of created life can contain these amazing possibilities within themselves, then why should it stretch our imagination so much to believe that a parallel capacity for beauty and life has been given to us — a capacity that is calling us to become something more?

As creatives, we often struggle to muster up the confidence in ourselves to listen to what this whispering voice from within has to say.

Much of the time, we are not even able to hear it. Our lives are too chaotic.

We are too distracted.

We lack the peace and stillness required to make out much more than a murmur from below.

And that is not even our most formidable challenge.

None of that really matters anyway because we would not trust this voice even if we could learn to hear it better.

More than an inability to hear — our challenge is our incapability to believe that this inner voice is able to lead us where we need to go.

So we seek advice from the community around us.

We spend our lives thrashing about, searching for validation in all of the wrong places.

We look to our inner circles.

We seek out direction from friends or family or especially from the “real artists” whom we admire.

We look for articles such as this one. We read writings about creativity or productivity or ingenuity.

We watch videos about inspiration, motivation or determination.

We spend money we do not have on courses we do not need for the sake of obtaining an affirmation that cannot be provided by anyone else.

And then we feel defeat when none of this moves the needle at all — because in the end we still do not end up believing in ourselves.

So we take typology tests.

We learn what “number” we are, what “animal” we are, what person in history we are like, or what our love language is.

We do absolutely everything in our power that we can — except believe that we could possibly already have the answers lying deep within us.

You see, what ails you and I has little to do with our capabilities or our processes or even our motivation.

Take your step

The truth is there is only one real way to manifest our calling.

The only concrete assurance and acceptance we will ever truly find comes from following the actions commanded from within.

To feel an ambition — and then to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls.

When we fail to act upon our ambition — for whatever reason — is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.

There is a creature lurking inside of us, and the only way to locate him, the only way to stop him from screaming, is to let him out.

He wants to wrestle along side us out in the open.

He wants to help us figure out our place in all of this.

He wants us to find our purpose, lead our families well, and leave this world better than we found it.

He wants to show us how to find joy wherever we are and pursue the collective work that we are uniquely wired to do.

Finding our creative calling is about more than the how and why of what we must do.

It is about identifying and fighting back against the fragmentation of this world.

It is about seeking orientation along side our inner voice, and beginning to live with intention as he reveals our true self.

It is about discovering the meaning that only our inner voice can show us, and along the way finding true connection to others and to the one that made us.

When we find that connection we become who we always were but had, until now, been afraid to embrace and live out.

The only way to ease our angst and find our hope is to listen to The Voice, receive His affection, walk through the barriers that have hemmed us in, and prepare a way for others to do the same.

The one who has found their calling is the one who knows they have been called because they were told so — and they are now taking a step to act on it.

Ultimately, the Called is the one who listens to the Voice, arrives to do their work — and begins.

So it’s time to show up and start getting it done.

Here’s how you can get the rest of my writing.

Ryan Douglas Martin resides in a northern suburb of Dallas, TX with his wife Katie and four children Kaisley Grace, Elijah Wyatt, Judah West, and June Selah. He helps operate a family construction company by day. He’s on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and occasionally Facebook. Though he’s probably never had an original thought, he possesses an omnivorous appetite for the insights of teachers much smarter than Him and he enjoys spreading their work widely. He is a Storyteller, and his mission is to help bring value to people by exploring, explaining and building community.