Finding Your Calling

Determining our "calling" in life can be one of the most difficult tasks set before us. We should seek for a calling that uplifts, inspires, and is something we are passionate about. There were some great insights in Jeffery A. Thompson's talk, "What is Your Calling in Life":

"In fact, finding our calling in life involves the same process as discovering our spiritual gifts. Elder Robert D. Hales has provided some insight on this process:

To find the gifts we have been given, we must pray and fast. . . . I urge you each to discover your gifts and to seek after those that will bring direction to your life’s work and that will further the work of heaven. [Robert D. Hales, “Gifts of the Spirit,” Ensign,February 2002, 16]

If you exercise faith in the Lord, follow His spirit, and seek to amplify your gifts, you will be led gradually to a place where you are well equipped to serve. I have seen it happen over and over. I have a colleague, tremendously respected in his field, who became an auditor—not by long-term planning, but by a series of minor circumstances that led him gradually and unintentionally to his profession. He could never have predicted the fulfillment his career would give him. We usually can’t predict exactly where our gifts will lead us. But in retrospect, we will see the hand of the Lord leading us from door to door and opportunity to opportunity as we exercise and hone our spiritual gifts.

This principle is particularly important in today’s economy. We faculty are keenly aware of how challenging it is for our students to find jobs today. You cannot control the economy. As a result, there is a temptation to feel like a victim or to give in to despair. When you are negatively affected by unstable economic conditions, focus on your gifts, which are stable. You may have to take a job that is below your level of qualification. If so, perform the work with drive, and use your gifts to put your unique stamp on your contributions. Doing so will increase your chances of finding better employment later.

You may even suffer joblessness for a time. Research shows that unemployment can have a devastating long-term impact on self-confidence, on health, and on happiness. I submit that having a sense of calling is part of your inoculation against the vicissitudes of the job market. Know yourself. Know what your gifts are. And define yourself by your gifts—not by your lack of a job.

But is every day fun for them? Hardly. When zookeepers talked about their work as a calling, they spoke not just about satisfaction but also about sacrifice—caring for sick animals in the middle of the night, doing unsavory work, foregoing a comfortable living, and the list goes on. I learned something tremendously important from my study of zookeepers. For them, the pain and burdens and sacrifice were not threats to their sense of calling—they were part of it. The work was meaningful because of the trials and burdens. That is an important lesson. We can’t expect deep meaningfulness from our calling unless we are willing to assume its burdens as well.

If you find your calling leads you to work that is less than glamorous, take heed to what John Calvin said: “No task will be so sordid and base . . . that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight” (quoted in Hardy, The Fabric of This World, 90; also in John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960], 3.10.6, 725).

It is a heresy that work is meaningful only when it gives us status and esteem. When we work to impress or outshine others, we violate the Lord’s vision of work.

I also testify that, as with all important questions, when it comes to asking what our calling in life is, Jesus Christ is in the answer. The grace of Christ, that same power that helps us do things we otherwise couldn’t, is what will guide us to our callings and enable us to excel in them. You can call upon the grace of Christ to help you with your professional calling. In fact, He pleads with us to do so." ["What is Your Calling in Life", Jeffery A. Thompson]

Do not shortchange yourself when coming up with your calling, thinking that you aren't good enough for certain things. Don't underestimate yourself and your abilities. You're going to have people who will laugh and doubt you and your aspirations, but you can do amazing things. Seek after those lofty goals, stretch yourself to your limits, push yourself farther than you've ever gone before, and you will be surprised of what you are capable of. We are children of God, we are built after the creator, the greatest of us all. Our heritage is to do great things - we were made to. 

There are many steppingstones in life to get you to where you want to be. You need to have an 'end' in mind in order to know where you are going, that's one of the reasons why finding your calling in life is so important. 

"Choosing an end is not about limits, it is about setting priorities that allow you to accomplish as much as possible. It is about choosing how to spend your last minute in the day or your last dollar or your last bit of energy...Your steppingstones are not a rigid plan. Instead, they are a way of dealing with reality. Steppingstones allow you to develop a vision of your life, to test that theory against reality, to consider the knowledge you have gathered and then refine your world view and life plan for another test. People who only ponder life and never step out into the storm rarely accomplish anything. They run the risk of slipping into a delusional world. At the opposite end of the spectrum are people who charge ahead without the slightest idea of where they are heading or why. These people seldom find satisfaction or meaning in their progress...As long as you don't lose sight of your vision and values, you can make course corrections as you gain knowledge." ["Stars and Steppingstones", Jeff Sandefer].