A lot of us have certain ideas about what is a calling and what is not a calling. We think some tasks don’t qualify as a calling. What about something as mundane taking out the trash? Can our garbage man be living his calling?
Sometimes we think a calling has to be glamorous. Sometimes we think our job is our calling. Sometimes we think for it to be a true calling, we can’t get paid for it – so our job can’t be our calling. At Simply Great Lives, we don’t believe any of these factors are relevant in determining a calling.
3 Factors
We believe there are just 3 factors + 1 override.
First about the 1 override, if you believe God is communicating to you to go do something, ignore the 3 factors and go do that. Now I’m not talking about hearing God like you’re a poached egg. But if you believe God is directing your life, do it even if it conflicts with the 3 factors.
The 3 factors are: our strengths, our passions, and meaningful impact.
If we look closely at these factors, we’ll find that specific tasks or jobs aren’t inherently calling or non-calling material. The specifics of our calling depend a whole lot on us. I may be passionate about coaching and building people up while you couldn’t care less about this. You might be really good at encouraging people, while I really suck at it.
The Garbage Man
So, can our garbage man be living his calling? I believe he can be.
I don’t believe all garbage men are living their calling. While taking out the garbage is certainly not my calling, I believe for some, they have a vision and a passion for clean cities. If we didn’t have garbage men, what would our neighborhoods look like? While we might not think a lot of skill is involved, it certainly takes a certain amount of patience and diligence to do this job.
The meaningful impact question can only be answered by the individual. At the end of our life, when we ask, “Did my life matter?” only our own answer counts. If the garbage man finds meaning in his work, that’s all that matters for it to be his calling.
For others, it may be that removing our garbage is a quick way to make some money while they pursue their calling with the rest of their time. In this case, the garbage job isn’t his calling, but it enables him to pursue his calling elsewhere. Still, this garbage man is living his calling.
For Us
The real point here is that we can release our preconceived ideas of what makes a calling. We can make money pursuing our calling. We can volunteer pursuing our calling. We can be directly involved with people. We can be indirectly involved with people.
We can build, write, teach, speak, listen, talk, organize, operate, deliver, research, you name it. Any of these things might be our calling and be totally not someone else’s calling. Just so long as we are satisfied with our answers to:
“Did I love people?”
“Did my life matter?”
