We all have some understanding of what we’re supposed to
do with our lives. We may not realize it or perhaps we lost
it, but it’s there, waiting to be uncovered. What we need,
then, is not a map, but a shovel—a set of tools to start
digging. I used to think a calling was something you just
knew you had, and if you didn’t know then you weren’t
called. But I’ve come to understand that’s not the case at all.
A calling is what you have when you look back at your life
and make sense of what it’s been trying to teach you all
along.
What would you do if you could do anything? Everyone
has an answer to that question. You might spend all day
with the kids or travel the world or finally write that book.
You might dedicate some serious time to a business idea or
perhaps with the right resources buy a new camera to take
photos all day at the park. Or maybe you’d just sit back and
sip coffee on the porch with your spouse, embracing all the
little things in life. If you pry hard enough, everyone has an
answer to this question—and that’s an important clue.
The problem is so few of our lives look anything like
what we want them to be. What prevents us from living the
life we long for is fear. We fear the unknown and what we
might lose—our security, our reputation, our lives. This is
what keeps us from our life’s work and what numbs our
awareness to the call—mystery. We are afraid of what we
don’t know. But the truth is you will never have clarity. As
Mother Teresa once said, you will only ever have trust.^7
Fear, indecision, not knowing—these are the obstacles that