Your "calling" in life

My calling in life is to live in a small cabin (RV will do as well) in the woods, grow grapes, vegetables, herbs, hops making my own beer and cognac. Taking wildlife and nature pictures, painting, writing and living off selling handmade furniture... Now I just have to make enough money to afford the RV / cabin and pay my student loans before I can be all free to pursue this kind of lifestyle.
I am perfectly fine with solitude as far as I have a cat and / or a dog.
Would be perfect..
 
is it selfish or ok to have one's calling solely concern oneself?
why are we taught to focus our energies outward?
shoudl we not be taught to focus our energies into what makes us thrive, and then if what makes us thrive is focusing our energies outward then so be it?
 
[MENTION=1796]AhSver[/MENTION]
I have read "into the wild". I think linkages can be made between a calling and true happiness, of course. but I don't interpret the two as being synonymous. so while true happiness, for most of us, includes others, I do not believe a true calling must. a calling describes parts of us that long to be expressed and which yield maximum satisfaction when allowed expression. however, i think a calling can be broken up into the various spheres of our lives. while it may be our calling to minister to others (such as is mine), that calling could be more minor than is the calling to express myself creatively. an intellectual may have a calling to live within the realm of ideas and theories, without ever desiring to share those with others or without even being pulled by the desire to uncover new theories that will advance humanity. In our society, it seems this kind of life is frowned upon. But why? Why are we so afraid of what will happen to us if our "selfish" natures take over? Are most people that genuinely selfish that the world would fall apart if we did not preach selflessness?
 
My calling in life is ...

... to be AWESOME!
 
oceanbreeze said:
a calling describes parts of us that long to be expressed and which yield maximum satisfaction when allowed expression.
Click to expand...

This is what my interpretation of a calling is. It doesn't necessarily have to match your natural talents. You just need to somehow know it's right for you and be passionate towards it.
 
To write and tell stories, even if no one else ever reads them. To simply transfer some of my thoughts/ideas/what-not onto paper and be productive and disciplined about it. :smile:
 
oceanbreeze said:
is it selfish or ok to have one's calling solely concern oneself?
why are we taught to focus our energies outward?
shoudl we not be taught to focus our energies into what makes us thrive, and then if what makes us thrive is focusing our energies outward then so be it?
Click to expand...

It's weird, because understanding what makes you thrive probably requires focusing on yourself. And then you'll probably discover that the energies are sometimes outward-directed.
 
knight in battle said:
It's weird, because understanding what makes you thrive probably requires focusing on yourself. And then you'll probably discover that the energies are sometimes outward-directed.
Click to expand...

nods.. yes, I think this makes sense. And once you direct your energies in ways that indeed are appropriate for you, you'll be much more likely to be productive/effective with your efforts than before you possessed the awareness of where to direct them.
 
I thought about this a little bit more..
Calling = destiny, something that fulfills the niche in the existence. May not cause happiness.
Often times it is something that is beyond our control and happens due to circumstances. Sometimes we spend our lives working towards this. For example an Educator could describe my calling, if I pursue this track I might feel more fulfilled but not necessary very happy.
Let's look at Che Guevara. . At first he was a doctor and then he became a political figure, a soldier, a guerrilla fighter.
Half way through his life his calling changed so drastically. The same might happen to us at any moment.. We have to be ready and open for opportunities. Follow the Tao and do not go against the grain.
 
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1. Global health psychiatry--becoming fluent in the language of some developing nation, employing a strategy called "task-shifting/task-sharing" that involves a core educated medical specialist (myself) teaching, organizing, and overseeing a team of local health workers or trained laypersons to employ basic psychological and/or pharmacological interventions in their respective communities. This greatly expands the reach of the (expensive) medical professional in resource-limited settings. Complex cases can be referred to the medical professional.

2. To save up money and go forth into the world--two years of peace corps followed by backpacking, couchsurfing, hiking, foodie-ing, WOOFing, hitchhiking, work-exchanging, etc--returning bearded, smelly, worldly and having a cheeseburger.
 
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my calling...hmm, it' s more like a whisper.
to grow, experience, love, express, touch, affect, to be affected. to learn.
 
Hi, i think my calling is to help people to become "real". it took me along time to find ME, to accept ME and to realise underneath all the crap we all want the same thing. Just to be loved. I find that when i show people my all they open up and share themselves with me. I seem to know what they need me to say to help them open up. I show them its okay to feel what they are feeling and that its not much different to what everbody else feels if they were brave enough to admit it.
 
I really want to believe that my calling is something I have to fill myself; an empty jar waiting to be filled.

But I'm scared (to admit?) that it was an attempt of rationalizing an empty hole in the place where it's supposed to be.

/angst
===
In other words, I have no idea.
 
My calling in life is not the squander the opportunities I've been given. There are people in this world who do not have the privileges I have; who don't have food, water, shelter, education, etc. to pursue that which I can. There are people in this world who have not yet learned the lessons I have, met the people I've met, been to the places where I've been.

I can do whatever the fuck I want with my time and resources and I'm basking in the opportunity of being called to choose.
 
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