29. MY CALLING, Part Three

The mind is reluctant to embrace deep change, and will play devious games to maintain the status quo.

 - Kristin Linklater, Freeing the Natural Voice

I used to have a calling.

Being a soldier meant walking in the footsteps of others, those who’d given their lives fighting Nazis in the Second World War, or keeping the peace in far-flung countries. And for the longest time, long after I’d felt like my actions as a soldier weren’t making the world any better, I couldn’t think of doing anything else because I was scared of change. For all my words, my problem was that I’d spent so much time in the military that I didn’t know what to do outside.

Five things helped me blow up my calling. Well, to be fair, I blew up my career, because my calling – to help others – never changed. I just found a new way to express it.

First, I reevaluated what was important in my life.

Second, I committed to seeing the world for what it was.

Third, I learned to accept what I could and could not control.

Fourth, I used what I could control to prepare for things I couldn’t.

Fifth and last, I adapted, and then went back to the beginning.

The first step involves looking at living a life of service, and I’ll get to that. But before that, before embarking on a change journey to make service to others a part of our lives, it’s useful to better understand a few of the obstacles we’ll face.