I didn’t buy a Powerball ticket, but the buzz around the record-breaking lottery intrigued me. Broadcast and social media were filled with people saying they couldn’t wait for the billion-dollar windfall to allow them to quit their jobs. Almost everyone said they’d never have a job again.
It all took me back to a long truck ride on one of my backpacking trips. My friend Nan asked me a career question I struggled to answer. “What job would you do, if income were no object?”
I’ve been pondering that question ever since.
That’s a different question than, “What would you buy with a half billion dollars?” or “What would you do with the rest of your life, if you never had to look at a price tag?”
It speaks to calling and purpose. It assumes we have an intrinsic drive to contribute to the world around us, to strive for something.
I struggle with this because I have multiple interests that could turn into vocations. I enjoy teaching at conferences and conventions. I could easily make myself vocationally useful at the church where my wife is already on staff. I’m passionate about adventure travel—including the planning and proposing aspects of it. While I wrestle with the act of writing, I crave the process of pondering, crafting, and editing my thoughts. Few things excite me like inspiring, influencing, and improving the perspectives of my friends and family.
Boiling all of that down to a concentrate: I love going on meaningful journeys and then sharing their narratives. I find purpose and pleasure in introducing other people to places, perspectives, and experiences that have enriched my soul.
I don’t need a lottery jackpot to pursue those goals. Chances are, you don’t need a Powerball payout to move toward your ideal vocation, either. Sure, we might have to sacrifice more, save more, or be more creative with our time, talent, and treasure in order to accomplish our grandest dreams. We also might need to let go of some relationships, status, or security.
We could also find similar reward at closer waypoints on our way to distant horizons. I know I do. If I look at the thing behind the thing—the primal feeling or impact driving the pursuit—opportunities to participate in that pursuit are much more approachable at a smaller scale or an earlier step in the larger process. They might even present themselves in our current career stop.
I’m not recommending that we trash our big dreams, that we settle for smaller mountains to climb. We can, though, find the hidden joy in our daily hike as part of a grander trek.
We were born to crave both contentment and accomplishment and then given a lifetime to find the balance. Making that more of a challenge are the viable options in our world and culture—both the honorable desires and the empty distractions. We can chase destiny or the wind, adventure or comfort.
For me, it has been healthy to wrestle with the following questions. When you’re having a case of the Mondays, these are good questions to ponder after you clock out.
- If I could chase any mission in life, what would it be?
- Is that worth spending my only life in pursuit?
- What’s my next step on the journey to my goal’s horizon?
- What could I add and subtract from my routine to move me closer to the endgame?
- What immediate or approaching opportunities to practice my dreams at a smaller scale could I pursue?
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Photo purchased from iStockPhoto.com.
