Are you answering your life's calling?

Can I share something with you?

Although I didn't know it at the time, I tuned into my calling in my early 20's when I walked out of the downtown Brooklyn welfare office with my daughter. There was a voice from within that told me to never return. Straight out. IT inspired me to push for my freedom. You see I'd never known anything but welfare assistance. Our livelihood was rooted in it, I was passed on to my mother's case manager when I was 18, it was a way of life. But one day a conviction larger than I could have understood at the time set in--this life wasn't for me. It wasn't the life I was born to live.

I walked out of that welfare office young, scared to death, not knowing where I was going or what I was going to do with my life. I had a baby to take care of, a life was depending on me. But even with the confusion, fear and tears, I kept walking. Listening to that voice inside of me that told me there were countless others in the world who are living in the same or greater misery. They need help too. I got it but I didn't get what it had to do with me. Oh well, I didn't have to totally get it, it was too strong to ignore, so I kept pressing.

I'd wake up feeling lost and hopeless someone would call me with a job opportunity. Intuitively, I'd follow the lead. The lead may have led to a closed opportunity or a failed job experience but I kept following the voice. In what seemed like a string of events that kept building my hope and faith I progressively came to a place where I felt like I was home in my evolving vocation. I wasn't qualified for it, I didn't have the degree, credentials or certifications but there I was. Standing in front of others who were in the place I was once in-helping them reach for a grander life. I was nervous but thrilled and excited. I kept telling myself I wasn't good enough but I stuck with it. I was younger than most of my students, I was less experienced than most of my students but I strove to make a difference. How could that possibly be? I didn't have a conscious clue what I wanted to do with my life. I had a gut feeling of how I wanted it to feel and that I wanted to teach something. I could tell you what I didn't want but not what I really wanted. But despite of it all, this job was practically handed to me. My calling carried me to it!

I have story after story of how I've walked into positions in my life. Not because I knew someone or that I was credentialed for the job. Not that I wasn't afraid or didn't doubt myself. My calling has literally carried me through my life. That voice has taking me further than I would have ever envisioned for myself. Along the way I've made it hard on myself and have fallen many times. But in truth, my only job was to listen and follow.

Our calling is a grand gift to be received and shared with others. It seems so personal because it's so gratifying, it makes us feel connected and alive. Remember, that it's a light that has to be shared with others in order to grow and thrive.

Are you answering your calling? Do you ask yourself Who Am I and What am I here for? What has your journey been like? Are you struggling with it? Afraid or doubting?

You have a voice, a gift, a contribution that's calling you. Once you hear the calling it' your responsibility to answer it. You are important, your dream's desire fruition and the world is waiting for you!