Aaaaah. Passion.
I’m not talking perfect smile Fabios, sun-glittering vampires, or bare-chested werewolves. If I had an “Edward” spying on my every move and constantly telling me where I could or could not go, I would die of suffocation.
I’m talking about Zing, Pizazz, Passion, Calling, Finding your life’s work – what makes you excited to wake up and get out of bed (most) mornings.
Identifying our gifts, knowing our passions, finding our “calling” is the real work of our life.
Po Bronson talked about this in his book, What Should I Do With My Life?
In an insightful lesson, Prof. Jeffrey Thompson discussed five common myths about finding our life’s calling. The five myths are:
Myth #2: You have to find your one true calling in order to be fulfilled.
I want to emphasize Myth #3: The False Promise of Bliss.
Joseph Campbell coined the phrase “follow your bliss” to imply following your heart to find your passion rather than chasing money or fame. After several years of seeing how people were misunderstanding the phrase, Campbell said, “What I meant was, ‘Follow your blisters.'”
It’s great to enjoy your work, but it is a fallacy that finding your calling will mean that work will always be fun.
Prof. Thompson studied zookeepers because they are some of the most passionate people when it comes to their work. They care for animals, educate the public about conservation, and develop a deep love for nature. They find their work deeply satisfying despite the low income and limited opportunities for career advancement. But, their life is not always “a day at the zoo.” Talk to a zookeeper and he will tell you about sacrifice, about caring for sick animals in the middle of the night, doing unsavory work, and going without luxuries. For zookeepers, the pain and burdens and sacrifice are not threats to their sense of calling – they are an integral part of it. Their work is meaningful because of the trials and burdens. We can’t expect deep meaning from our life’s work unless we are willing to assume its burdens as well.
There is always good with the bad. The good is defined, refined, pruned and produced through the bad. This is a great lesson to me. If, no, when I find myself in a quagmire of muck, or at the bottom of a very steep peak to climb, or exhausted, discouraged, or even bored, these situations do not necessarily indicate that I have not found a life calling. They might actually indicate that I am on the cusp of finding a real treasure.
mw
*Note: You can read Jeffrey Thompson’s full text at speeches.byu.edu.