This may be an odd confession, but for many years now I have struggled to figure out what my “calling” in life is. I have done a lot of different work in my days…jobs in banking, retail, and of course my work as a Coach, Reiki healer and Tarot advisor. I have wondered on multiple occasions though, what is my true calling?
What is it that I was placed on this planet to do?
What is a calling?
Do we have only one?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s head is spinning with these questions.
Over the course of the past week I was reading a wonderful book by Marianne Williamson called The Law of Divine Compensation. A paragraph in chapter 11 stuck out to me so profoundly… answering my own internal questions about what my actual calling in life is.
Marianne writes… ” Your calling is what you would do whether you were paid to do it or not. Your calling is what you have to do in order to be happy. Your calling is what connects you to your deepest self, and to the rest of life around you. If you have no idea what that would be, simply pray, “Dear God, please use me,” and awareness of your calling will appear miraculously.”
This one paragraph opened the floodgates of clarity in my mind.
A part of my calling is writing. I write because I need to. I write because I need to express myself. I never know who reads this blog. I don’t do it because I want a million people to read my stories… I write because I have to in my heart. I have to express my experiences because they give me a deeper understanding of them. I don’t know if my writing is “good” according to the writing industry and honestly I don’t care! I just know that I feel better when my fingers are flying over the keys, speaking words that aren’t mine but are coming through me.
Uplifting is a part of my calling. I want people around me to feel better when they walk away. I don’t do this for a fee. I do it because when I am able to brighten someone’s day or make them smile, or even just listen to them… I feel how I’ve contributed. Whenever a happy person spreads their joy, the world becomes more joyful.
Raising my daughters is a part of my calling. I am their mother and I’m certainly not paid for that this role. I am their mother and their guide. I lead them toward becoming wonderful strong little ladies in the world. I teach them what I know… how to bring more joy to our society, how to treat others and how to live as peaceful as possible.
Reading Tarot is another calling for me. I bought my first deck of cards three years ago and it was always something fun for me to do. I never really planned on it becoming a part of my practice… it just snuck in. I used to read for my friends and family… as a way to learn the cards in more detail. I am pulled to Tarot as a way to further my story telling. Just like I have such a desire to write and share my experiences, it’s a way for me to communicate. I use Tarot the same way… as a way to communicate, to channel information that isn’t so much coming from me as it is coming THROUGH me.
My husband and I sat in the car today and talked more about the idea of a calling. I asked him what he thought may be part of his calling. He used to run track and field in High School and that was something that he purely loved to do. It wasn’t anything he would ever do because he was paid for it… but something that lifted his spirit.
He and I also love our dogs and we go dog sledding with them. We own a beautifully crafted dogsled that we stumbled upon on Craigslist about 8 years ago. We have put many miles on that sled in our spare time. When our daughter Adelynn was a baby we actually put her car seat in the basket of the sled and took her for her first ride at 6 months old. Never would we think of doing this as something for payment as much as it just felt like something we were so pulled to do. I am happy in the snowy woods of the Adirondacks, riding with my dogs… who are in their element.
A calling, or even a hobby is something that we do because it lifts our spirit, it puts us back in connection with our spirit. We don’t know why it makes us so happy, it just does. It reminds us of the joy of our lives, our interests, our passions. It lights us up in conversation, we get better and better at it and maybe even someday we’ll be compensated for this love we have. But it is a divine and pure form of love that is expressed through us.
That paragraph in Marianne Williamson’s book shed light on a question I haven’t been able to answer for several years – Now I’m able to see clarity in my life. I see that I have multiple callings and that they are a part of who I am that I have to honor. They are natural instincts that just make sense and ultimately bring me joy.
If this is a question you have toyed with in your life I hope my story has help you find some clarity as to your calling too.
Natural Peace Living 