What is a Calling ?

Have you ever heard someone saying 'I was called to....' or 'the purpose of my life is....' and wondered what the hell people are talking about ? Well for a long time I felt like I was totally left out and I used to ask people who I thought were a bit psychic, 'what is my purpose?' and they used to say to me, purpose is something you choose.  And I was still at a loss because there are so many purposes that you could take up in the world, and choosing things from many options is something I find very challenging.

My orientation then changed somehow, and I think this came from seeing people working in the field of development, seeing how troubled the world was and noticing my need to contribute in some way.  I started to look at the world and ask what it needed from me.  What does the world look like to me that I may answer the call it's making for me to act in some way ?  This feels like a very different orientation and one that gives me another way of looking at life. 

What does this world want from me that I might be able to give ? What calls to me as mine to do ? Without necessarily believing I am capable or skilful enough to do it, what might the world want from me ? What would it take to have this happen - that I might answer the world's call ? What is mine to do ? What is not mine to do ? What am I up to right now that doesn't serve the deeper calling of my heart and my life ? How might I organise my life that the world's calling might be heard and acted on ? What support would I need (through people and circumstance) to have this be a reality ?

For me, the experience of my calling comes from somewhere inside my chest when I see, hear or experience something that relates to what my contribution might be about.  When I am present to someone's transformation, when someone sees the world differently, when they experience a freedom they haven't before, when the same happens to me - I feel the calling.  I can see that there are not enough people in the world, in enough places doing development work - facilitating human beings in becoming freer, more liberated and more loving.  

The reason I am writing this is that I have a deep desire to play my part in relieving some of the suffering in this world.  And if only one person reads something I have written or attends a workshop that I have run and they experience a loosening of the grip that their personality or ego has on them, then my real work is being done.  I take great joy in seeing the freedom that comes with a greater awareness of the present moment.  Of course this is a different story for everyone.

So what are the things that bring you joy and what is the thread that connects these things together ? What's common to all of these 'joy triggers'? Where in the world do you recognise yourself coming to life ? Who are you with when you experience yourself most fully ?

And what does all this tell you about what you could be contributing or bringing to this world of ours - this world that deeply needs us to show up with our gifts without delay?