What if it’s Not too Late?

We’ve all seen them. People who knew what they wanted to be from the time they were little ones. A teacher inspired them to pick up a piece of chalk and make a difference.

Or maybe the lack of a good doctor when their family needed one, lit a fire in them to become a good doctor in someone else’s life.

We have greenly looked at those who knew, whose certainty dripped from their every movement. And we kept looking at our own lives, wondering what could have been.

It’s never too late to pursue your calling.

Because we weren’t made with cookie cutters, we think differently, act differently and accomplish goals differently. And that’s okay. Maybe more of us would pursue our callings if we better understood the process.

And then I read The Art of Work, by Jeff Goins. A book that not only acknowledges our differences, but also gives us the right to pursue our callings, no matter how our maps differ. This is not a marathon where only one winner is crowned. And the time it takes to get there doesn’t matter, just that we do finish.

For years, I was frustrated, watching others pursue their crystal clear calling and cross their individual finish lines.

While I outwardly congratulated them, inside these questions burned, “Will I ever reach mine? What is wrong with me? Why do I keep getting delayed?”

What about me?

At times, I wondered if I had misunderstood what my calling was. My uncertainty gave me more time to figure it out. The only problem with that was I could hear the clock ticking loudly.

The Art of Work has changed my thinking, even some of my cemented thoughts. Goins not only paints a clear picture of what a calling looked like, he shows us getting there looks different for each person. With each story I could feel myself relax. And that gave me hope.

A calling is not some carefully crafted plan. It’s what’s left when the plan goes horribly wrong,

It all matters

Maybe we all have the power to turn our lives into significant stories if we start to see our difficulties as opportunities.

He had my full attention. After all, I thought I had missed what others had achieved. Hadn’t I? Page after page, I let the words soak in, untangling misunderstood concepts which held me back.

All along, her life was teaching her something, even in the pain. And if she hadn’t paid attention, she just might have missed it.

He may as well have been talking to me. Pain had been a constant companion. One I thought was preventing me from pursuing my calling. One I tried to avoid, though unsuccessful. It had gotten to the point I was afraid of pain. Fear had slipped in again.

Fear needs to be recognized

Some people, though, let fear run their lives. They avoid risk, hoping to minimize the chances of failure, and in effect move in the opposite direction of a calling.

Fear used to stop me cold. I had recently heard Larry Crabb speak. “Sometimes we avoid the very things in our lives God wants to use to teach us something. We do this out of fear.”

Often my stubbornness requires repeat lessons. Two people saying basically the same thing. I needed to respond accordingly, instead of shrinking back.

And now I sit with confirmation of my calling. It doesn’t matter what the date is, or how long my journey has been. None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that I reach my destination.  Circumstances I mistook for intruders, were necessary steps. Part of the whole picture.

One step at a time

With renewed confidence I acknowledge my scrambled journey.  I will stop condemning the calendar, but instead celebrate every step which brings me closer.  One more statement that speaks volumes to me and causes me to face my fears.

Yes, you could fail, but we all know what happens when you don’t try—nothing.

And so I move forward. I will not be paralyzed any longer.

And now you have an opportunity to change your thinking. Maybe you’ll realize you’re not too late.  You may be right on time.

Click here to find out how you can get the Art of Work for only the price of postage. Reading this might be the one thing you need to get you started, or maybe like me, it will restart you. Isn’t it worth finding out?