Finding Your Calling in 4,387 Easy Steps

Copyright (c) 2011 Kim Schuld

I blame Oprah. She was the one who got us all revved up about having a "calling" and finding a "calling" and interviewing authors who were all about the "calling." I haven't watched her show in years but quite by chance I turned on the television at the exact moment her final show started.

But how do we find that calling? Wouldn't it be great if there was some sort of internal GPS we could listen to and trust to guide us to the exact right destination on the shortest and most pleasant route? I'll tell you a secret about me. I'd been hoping for a booming voice from God, or someone with great authority whom I respect, to tell me, "This is your calling. This is what you were meant to do." That big voice hasn't come and it never will, but the little messages I have picked up when I turn off my brain and open my heart are collecting themselves into something big. It's more like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle than the burning bush in the desert like Moses saw.

I've talked before about our internal GPS system being like the one in our car. It needs to know the starting point and the desired destination before it can guide us there. Unfortunately, my car's GPS is just as likely to tell me to turn left into a concrete barrier, or assure me that the meth lab I found is indeed my destination on the right, than it is to get me where I intended to go. It makes mistakes in guiding me just as my internal GPS can make mistakes.

It's so easy to get caught up in the head traffic of what makes sense from a practical standpoint versus what our heart instinct tells us to do. I have to pay the mortgage and the phone bill and the electric bill, so shouldn't I do things that I am good at for the money? And worse, what if I am the only one who believes I have a calling or gift to share? If no one else wants what I have to offer, and I cannot make money to meet my needs, maybe I am the one who's being fooled?

I admit this because I've been experiencing a lot of internal churning on this level for several weeks now. Maybe if I can be a little vulnerable and share my struggle, you will find some nugget for yourself. In the past several days, two things have really started to crystallize for me.

The first is this: We all have a calling. We want the quick three-step process for finding it, but knowing our calling is often much sneakier than a bolt of lightning. As Oprah reminded us in her final show, your calling does not have to take place on a huge stage. You do not need to be doing something that changes the world. You don't even have to do your calling as your career or job. Some people are called to be nurturing mothers. Some people are called to be good friends who give the perfect advice at the perfect moment. I don't think those are my callings, but seeing it broken down to that basic level gets my own juices flowing about what I can give from my heart, not from my head.

The second crystallization is this: Holding onto past hurts and resentments blocks the channel from our heart to step into our calling. Some things and people are hard to forgive. And some people who have hurt us we just don't need to confront to live an adequate life. But if those lingering disappointments are caught up inside you somewhere, they will block your heart from being truly open to both receive and to give. In the last show, Oprah talked about a guest who said that we are 100% responsible for the energy we carry around. If you walk into a room with a smile on your face, but in your heart you are carrying pain, grief, resentment, disappointment, hurt and lack, it spills over onto other people like a sticky maple syrup. But if we can release those things in ourselves, we will be able to unblock that great question, "What am I here for?"

But Kim, you don't understand how much that person damaged me! Oh yes I do. And God has been showing me the who, what, where, when and how of the disappointments and hurts I've been hanging onto like an old blanket. I've been perfectly functional with this crud in my pipes, but not stepping into the true greatness I hope He has planned for me. I have to sit and meditate and open my heart to feeling the pain all over again. It is only when I feel something come up that I can touch it, feel its power, admit my fear and then release its grip on me.

So, there aren't three easy steps to finding your calling. I don't know how many steps there are for you. Maybe you'll have it in 4 steps, maybe in 4,000 steps. Just start with the first two steps:

1) believe that you have a calling 2) dig up and release the old hurts.

The rest will come quickly once the channel has been opened.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com