we’re afraid of being our true selves. But the lucky ones
discover a different path. Or rather, they forge one where
there was no way, departing from expectation in order to
become who they are.
To be called is not enough. You must become your
calling, a choice that happens only if you make it. Why do
so few people do this? What’s really at stake here? As with
any journey, there is risk and danger, the likelihood of
failure. And most would rather play it safe than be rejected
by their friends or fall on their faces for the world to see. So
they live lives of safety and relative obscurity, focusing on
the things they enjoy and are praised for instead of daring to
do something great. And time creeps by, taunting those who
did not live.
Ezra Pound aptly wrote of such people: “And the days
are not full enough / And the nights are not full enough /
And life slips by like a field mouse / Not shaking the
grass.”^5 That feeling you feel when you see a great movie
or read a powerful story—you know that itch? It’s telling
you there is more life in you yet to be lived. Ancient myths
and legends speak to this. Every hero’s journey included
some sacred task that culminated in a deeper understanding
of who they were born to be. And how was this done?
Through a personal quest—some great feat that required
every talent, skill, and strength they could muster. In other
words, they had to work.
Every day you and I face a choice: to either pursue our
authentic selves or a shadow of the real thing. We either do