Looking Inside To Find Our Place In The World
This is a topic often discussed, now more so than ever. What are we to do in life?
A big question
Finding our place in the world can seem a daunting task. What if we make a mistake? What if we go down the wrong direction? What if we fail? What if our choice today jeopardizes our entire future ahead? These questions seem to effect most young people today, including those in already hard-earned careers. I know they did me for the longest time. It was only when I could shift my perspective around and turn the fear and confusion of the unknown into gratitude for the mystery that I would free myself from this modern plague.
The great mystery of life - what lies in the unknown
Imagine already knowing exactly what you are to do and how you are to do it from as long as you could remember. For a glamorous position this may be okay, but for most this would be a total drag. It is in promise of the great mysteries of life that feed our will and keep us going. With complete clarity of the road ahead, there would be no excitement to actually keep on it. It is unknowns that actually provide us a good deal of our encouragement. No great discovery or invention would have ever been made if it wasn’t for the drive of the unknown possibilities pushing it forward. This here is the starting point to having gratitude for this big choice.
Giving thanks for free choice
I don’t know about you, but as much as a wonder if what I’m doing is my exact call in life, this feeling certainly does not provide nearly the grief in me when I think about being told what I am to do and how I will go about doing it. Imagine having directions for every task you take on. Every creative endeavor and every possible choice you may incur on the road to getting things done. This alternate perspective builds in me a newfound appreciation for free choice. Even though I will have no guarantee what will occur with each choice I make, I am still able to participate in the choice itself and live my life as a unique creation. Another example as to what some of us plea for may look like would be playing the board game ‘Life’ while being told by another player which choices to make along the way and already knowing the outcome of the game. This wouldn’t be much of a game at all! And certainly would not free us from our boredom, but actually bore us right to sleep.
Limiting the distractions of others
In the real game of life, we are likewise bombarded by a multitude of other player’s thoughts on how we should play our turn. This can be made known to us directly through the guise of ‘helpful advice’ or be more discreet in the form of cultural norms, the beliefs of those around us, and other’s own thoughts and lives as evidence. The perceptions formed by these begin to shape us from early childhood and are constantly reinforced through the social environments we maintain. Typically, the more we abide to them the more we’ll be acceptable to those around us–the very same people who inspired us this way. This can occur for many reasons and certainly echoes the saying, ‘birds of a feather flock together’. It is this clutter that prevents us from answering our original question. It creates in us a wall that entraps our individual answer. The answer that lies in us from the beginning but we lose sight of as we journey too far outward. Let us begin to chip away at this block.
Revealing the answer - Getting back inside
You will be surprised to hear that the answer you seek is very near to you. Finding it out on its own is easy, it is uncovering it from the years of clutter now encapsulating it that provides the challenge. Good thing is you would not be reading this if you were not up for a little effort! The wall around it was built many years ago and reinforced more securely each passing moment, understand it will not be taken down easily. Our work at it will be a steady chipping away and a removal of it brick by brick. This begins by figuring out what has been driving you so far and where it all came from? Once you have a grasp on current motivations you can begin to break them apart and see where they are leading you. Sometimes the events of life can make this an easier task for us. By reaching a certain point along the path we are going we can be made aware of our mishap in following it by uncovering some of the errors in the beliefs we followed on our way. This is life’s journey doing what it does best; giving us time and time again to re-center ourselves to our true purpose. Odds are if you are having these questions now then life is doing its job, this is a good thing. It is these big kinds of questions that get us back on track to our full potential. Never quiet them up! Now back to our mission chipping away at that wall keeping us from getting there. It is the embrace of these big questions leading us to thorough investigation of our self that breaks away at this wall.
Breaking away the walls hiding your truth
1) What am I seeking?
2) What are the beliefs I’ve held about work and careers that has been pushing me to present? How do I feel about these now?
3) What are my goals in life? Which of these are related to my work? (hint- most goals we attach to a certain career but really they can be met just as well outside of it; EX: “I want to help people”. If you’re not doing this already then you probably won’t be very good at your career in it.)
4) What do I enjoy? What interests me?
5) What am I good at?
6) What do I like to do as a hobby or in my free time?
What do you want
Once you get past the old baggage of belief that has been keeping you from your freedom (1-2 above) then you are free to answer the basic questions pertaining to talent, enjoyment, and practicality. Here in these lies the beginning of one of your life’s missions (if only you can answer them freely and honestly removed from all the clutter of old). If you think about it: Why isn’t there only a single species of bird? Or why do we have more than a single species of flower? Well, do you take as much enjoyment in all birds or in all flowers? Or is there one that you like the most? Or maybe it isn’t birds or flowers at all. Maybe you like dogs, and it is dogs that you find great joy in. But which breed do you choose? Are you pre-destined to a certain breed? Don’t make it so complicated. Our world gives us an abundance of possibilities. There is no need to cut yourself short. There’s plenty of options for everyone to delight in something. With birds there are 10,000 to choose from. Flowers 400,000 species. So extravagant are the amount of jobs too. Choose one that pleases you. If you cut out all the other bullshit and just answer this one question odds are you’ll be pretty happy with it and good at it too bringing value to others. After all, happiness is why you selected it. Be real with yourself and your abilities (no license to go chasing wild dreams here and selfish ambitions) and then choose the route that seems most interesting, most fulfilling, and most in line with what brings you joy. There it is, simple as that. Inside out careers…boasting a 100% employee satisfaction rating.