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Oct
11
Written by:
George Alexandrov
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Yesterday I met with a very spiritual and wise friend of mine for a glass of wine at Webster's Wine Bar. Due to our schedules we see each other once a month, or maybe even once every two months. But every time I see her we have great conversations and I feel recharged with new energy. Not everyone has this effect on me, but Ralitza does. Yesterday was not an exception.
We were discussing at length about what the real purpose of each one of us was in life and whether we were actually doing in life what we were mostly enjoying. The conversation shifted towards how one could find what their true Vocation was. Some people know and feel very strongly from their childhood what they want to be. And I am not talking about the "i want to be an astronaut" type of thing. I am talking about when people know deep in their souls since their childhood that they want to be a world renowned sommelier, or want to do some kind of outdoors sport, etc, and this is the only thing they want to live for.
The question of the Vocation is also the theme in Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist, and is referred to as one's "Personal Legend". All children feel what their Personal Legend, or Vocation, is. However, as we are growing up the forces of life, the ideas others impose on us and our own fears of leaving the comfort of our "safe" logical predictions, steer us further away from our true Vocation.
Some people remember much better than others what their true Vocation is supposed to be form early childhood. If these people are smart enough they will fulfil it and their lives will be filled with satisfaction and joy. These are the people who will be truly happy. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the people who are not even aware that there is something else they could be doing in their lives. These people are probably unhappy, but they are pseudo content as they have accepted their life as it is and do not (want to) know better. But there is the gray area, somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, in which the people don't remember (or don't see) what their vocation is, yet they feel that whatever they are currently doing is not their true calling. These are the people who probably go through the most internal fights:
"Maybe I should do something else in life. This job does pay the bills, makes me feel secure, but I know my passion is somewhere else. But what is it? Maybe I should try dancing. But what if it doesn't happen to be my vocation? Maybe it is writing. No, I can't possibly write anything that I can make money with. But then again, when I was a kid I used to make such creative stories. If I let go the grip on my current reality I may fall so hard that it will hurt. I will be a complete failure in this case. But then again, I know that there is something out there that is for me and it is not what I am involved with now..." here the magic circle closes and the entire thought process repeats again. I see a hamster wheel! It is amazing how many people need to be looking for their real vocation. A friend even made a successful business out of this (Vocation Vacations).
I believe that everyone knows deeply inside them what their Vocation is but do not realize it. The Vocation is like a metal ball on a string hanging from the ceiling right in front of us. But we cannot see it because the room is pitch black. As we are standing in front of it thinking, should I try to find it, or should I not, a year (two, three, ten) goes by. Finally we get some courage (or a kick), stretch our arms and start playing blind man's buff. But we are not quite blind if we trust our feelings and intuition, are we? Eventually we will touch the ball, find out what it feels like and pull it. Magic!!! Light shines everywhere. We just pulled the string of the light switch, and we can even see what color our Vocation ball is. Wow, your Vocation is your Passion! You may say "If I knew it was that real, I would have done it earlier!" Easier said than believed and done, eh? After all this is your life we are talking about here, and not some game... Or is it?
Let's return back to my conversation with Ralitza and to the heart of this story. After at least one very motivating and inspirational hour of our conversation Ralitza said something very close to this:
"Let me tell you of a very simple way to test whether something that you suppose is your Passion in life really is what you think it is. Every time when you say what you want to do you say 'I think that I want to do this this and this.' Well, now repeat the same sentence but substitute 'I think..' with 'I feel...'. Do you still get the same good feeling when you pronounce the sentence? Does it still give you the same good vibration? If it does, then very likely you have found, or are very close to knowing, your true Passion."
That's a simple test isn't it?
Ralitza also said that if one does not (try to) find their true passion and starts doing something else, she may eventually find her Passion again down the road as she will subconsciously lead herself to it. What that means is that she would have taken the long and winding path in life from point N(ow) to point P(assion). It may be years before she gets to point P and she may decide that it is too late to do anything about her Passion (or can she?). Why not uncover and jump into the Passion or Vocation now and spare the misery of years spent in meaningless waste of energy, time and creativity?
Ralitza amazed me again when she had the perfect advice waiting for me on her ever growing shelf of Wisdom. Well, let me repeat it again to make sure I will remember: It is as simple as evaluating "I think..." vs. "I feel...". If you happen to be in the grey area of the spectrum and have a few even remotely candidate Vocations, do try this test for yourself. I am eager to hear your results and reactions!
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5 comments so far...
Re: A Simple Test of Your True Vocation and Passion
Wow, you really do write great! :) And you got me thinking ...
Sometimes there is a long way to go to get to your vocation. Like Lincoln, who worked hard all his life and tried many times before he was elected president ... I mean that it is not easy to find your way, but it is not easy not to move aside either. There are so many side paths that attract you while you walk, so many things looking like the easier solution, tempting you to turn to the wrong direction... Sometimes we do things that we suppose that might be useful for our future, but we have no clear idea how, so we actualy do not know why we are doing these things. Most of the time we spend throwing our effort in begining different things, and we drive very little of them to their ends. We just drop them in the middle, because we realize we do not need them, so we have lost so much time starting something that will be of no use to us, then we do it again and again ... This is a circle that we are into. The question is how do we get out of this circle? When we start something we need to know what the end result will be, or at least what is our goal, what are we trying to achieve by this. Are those numerous little things that keep you busy every day really necessary? All of them?
And how do we keep ourselves away from the influence of others? Many people are pushing us to do things that we do not want to do and in most cases these are people we love, like our parents. We want to make them happy, and even if we know what our vocation is, we can give up our passion because of them.
And to make things even more complicated - there are also different ways to get to your vocation - longer and shorter. How can we pick the shortest way? Of course, we can go for a longer way and invest more time, it would still be worthed, but wouldn't it be perfect if we could do it in the fastest possible way?
There are so many things that take us away and distract us from our vocation and it is hard to realize this is our own life and we have to make it valuable and this is our responsibility. If we are happy and feel good about ourselves, then we can help others to feel happy, too.
Personally, I believe I know what my vocation is. However, I do not know the shortest way to it. And who knows, maybe what's in my mind is only the begining ... So to comfort myself I never take anything I do as a loss of time, even if it was of no use to me ... I take it as experience that might be still useful for me some day. :)
By Emi on
Thursday, October 12, 2006
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Re: A Simple Test of Your True Vocation and Passion
Wow, Joro! What a very insightful and valuable blog entry...
Are you sure your passion isn't writing? :-) Well, only YOU know what it is and I feel you're getting very close to figuring it out.
I love the simple test that Ralitza told you about. It's amazing how such a small change - just one word - causes such a different...feeling...about what you are saying/thinking. I know that I'll be using it often as I'm embarking on the voyage towards my new vocation, i.e. life.
Keep thinking! Keep growing! Keep observing!
By Emo on
Thursday, October 12, 2006
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Re: A Simple Test of Your True Vocation and Passion
Emy, I really like your expressive comment. I wanted to answer one thing - what is the shortest way to your vocation? It is 1) realizing it 2) doing everything you can to fulfil your vocation. That is it. By finding your way to it, in the original text I meant just finding what your voaction is. Then you strive to do everything to do it, and you are focused on achieving the state where you can completely give yourself to it. Then all the distractions are not distractions any more becuase you just won't give them priority and the attention for them to become distractions. If you know what your vocation is, you are more than half way in it. The rest is wanting it, doing things you can logiacally forsee, and last and most important - taking advatage of the opportunities that life will award you with as a result of having a firm goal. This last part is the magic of life, and has nothing to do with logic and luck. It has to do with our desire alone.
By George on
Thursday, October 12, 2006
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Re: A Simple Test of Your True Vocation and Passion
Hey George, since I have time on my hands from being home sick, reading your blog about this subject struck a cord!! As you know i've been asking myself "how many internships does it take to find your dream job?" Having done three different types of internships in entertainment, I was an outstanding intern but none of them worked out. I still feel the passion boiling in my blood when opportunity comes knockin.
A very big question to ask though, "is this passion realisitic?" Since opportunites in Chicago are limited and I hate Los Angeles, that pretty much closes doors! It's reasonable to assume that to be safe, it's best to train your mind at a very young age to have more than one passion, otherwise one may wake up one day and ask "whats the point of living?" That is if the "one" passion doesn't work out.
By Mark Mueller on
Friday, October 13, 2006
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Re: A Simple Test of Your True Vocation and Passion
"I sat before the wise man
In the autumn of my youth
And I told him all
The things I had to know
He said you have the future
If you need to find the truth
And in his eyes
I saw that it was so
So I came right out
And asked him
The meaning of life
And as he smiled
I saw a twinkle in his eye
He said with all his years
There's still so much
He has to learn
And once again
I saw that it was so
Keep on living, loving
Waiting your turn
It's the only way to
Ease your concern
If you want to find
Your dream, be sure
You don't wake up too soon
Or you'll find it easier
Shooting for the moon
Wise man, wise man
Which way shall I run
There's so many roads
So many ways to turn
I am like a blind man
Lost in the sun
I wanna be like you
And be a wise man too
But I'm looking for
An easy way to learn..."
Uriah Heep :)
By Emi on
Saturday, October 14, 2006
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