6 ways to discover your vocation and a meaningful life



As I write, a family of squirrels prowls my yard. There must be a dozen bakers, some jumping from branch to branch, others a few small claws in the ground and the other half dozen hoping to outwit the alpha squirrel, which is on a corn feeder. The whole deal is quite distracting for someone with ADD

Squirrel.

Anyway, this is my writing background, my happy place. Something about squirrel life calms my soul. Maybe squirrels are not for you, but it is likely that you identify yourself with the outside at some level. Hunting. Camping. Running. Bicycle. Hug the trees.

God's creation is a great preacher, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. Most of the time, no, I'm ashamed to say it. But every now and then, when the coffee is brewed the right way, my courtyard takes me to church.

Yesterday was one of those times.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my identity and my purpose. You blame my thousand-year-old roots or Rick Warren, but my biggest fear is to beat a watch or "work for the man". We exist for more than one paycheck. I believe that.

Even if our minds don't believe it, our bodies do.

The most common time of the week for heart attacks is Monday morning. True, Google. Many people are engaged in insignificant jobs. And it's killing us. Literally.

This brings me back to the squirrels. These furry animals do the same things every day. Hide acorns. Climbing trees. Play hunting. They do squirrel stuff. Nobody ever wanted a squirrel to be a bird, a wasp or a tree. Squirrels are happy enough to be squirrels, thanks.

Squirrels don't need to shrink. They know who I am and why I am here.

Finding your vocation is the key to a meaningful life because it answers two timeless questions: who am I? and why am I here?

See, when you understand your identity and your purpose, life makes sense. This is your personal vocation, the bridge between identity and purpose. Vocation destroys confrontation (trying to be someone else rather than who God created you to be) and spiritual apathy (meaningless life).

How do you discover your vocation? Here are some points to guide your journey.

1. Your calling is who you are, not what you do.

Let's start here because nothing else matters if you miss this point. Your job or career is not your calling.

For some of you this news is disappointing. I'm sorry.

For many, however, this news is liberating. A job or a career does not define you. I can get an amen! How unstable are careers, right? Answer: I am thirty one years old and working on number three.

It is very likely that your calling takes place outside of your 9–5. I call it a "side bustle". You can call it parenting or coaching.

My calling, in case I'm asking you, is to make things whole. Whether it's working as an engineer, raising a family, pasteurizing a church or writing, this theme is coherent.

When you discover your calling, you let go of this silly idea that God has only one path to your life. Your vocation determines your path, not the other way around.

2. Your vocation makes you feel unqualified and overwhelmed.

Your vocation will not be easy. Your vocation could leave you crying in a fetal position, leave you at the doors of a consultant's office or a combination of the two. Regardless, it always leads you to the end of yourself.

Many people lack their calling because they believe that a meaningful life is easy. It's definitely not that difficult, right? I mean, if it doesn't make me happy it can't be from God.

Psssh.

The two great lovers of America, comfort and safety, tell many lies. Everything worth having requires sacrifice. When I observe the most significant efforts of my life, marriage, the family, the pastor and writing come to mind. All these wounds inflicted on my heart, which require a lot of time and energy. At the same time, everything has shaped me into a better, more empathetic and compassionate man, less proud and consummate with himself.

You can have an easy or meaningful life, but you cannot have both.

You can have an easy or meaningful life, but you cannot have both.

3. Your vocation always moves the world forward and contributes to the common good.

God advances creation and moves people towards freedom. Your vocation will do the same.

Success and results are not indicators of vocation. It is possible to be on top of the mountain with an empty heart. Most of the time you find your vocation in the valley, in those spaces where the spotlight does not shine, in those areas where hope, beauty and justice are most necessary.

4. Your vocation involves a community.

Since your vocation is a divine system, it will always involve both receiving and giving. "Love your neighbor as yourself", in the words of Jesus. You cannot love your neighbor unless you love yourself. And you can't really love yourself if you don't love your neighbor.

Your vocation will inspire others, fill people with hope or free others from the chains of injustice. Your vocation never concerns you, in other words.

It connects you with the world. It unites you to the creation of God, all of this. Somehow it's all connected and it's all important.

5. Find your vocation at the intersection of what disturbs you, ignites you and makes you get out of bed.

What turns on your heart and mind? What injustice or fracture irritates you? When do you feel most alive? If resources weren't a problem, what would you do? If you had a year to live, how would you spend it?

When your talent and your unique way of receiving love are connected to an experience, you glimpse your vocation. And it's beautiful. Time stands still.

Pay attention to these moments.

6. Your vocation awakens you to the power of the present.

When you live by your vocation, your heart and mind stop living in the past and in the future. The only moment of any meaning is this moment, right now. Your vocation awakens you from your sleep and, in the end, you see the world for what it is, not for what you would like it to be.

You lose interest in superficial matters. When you discover your vocation, things like the body image, the goals achieved and the Kardashians have no place in your life. If superficiality is truly the curse of our age, as Richard Foster says, then vocation is the antidote.

If superficiality is the curse of our age, vocation is the antidote.

If you feel there is more to life, you are right. You don't have to fear Monday morning. You were created with meaning, by meaning. Once you understand who you are and who you are, you can draw on your vocation. Please find out.

Grace and peace, friends.