That got me thinking about some of the things I write about on this blog like passion, calling and faith.  I write alot about finding what you were created for.  Are you doing the thing that God uniquely designed and gifted you to do?  We were all given unique gifts and placed in unique circumstances and life experiences so we can have the impact that God intended for us on the world around us.

If you are doing what you were created to do you know it and everyone around probably does too.  If you aren’t doing what you were created to, even if you don’t know it, I can almost guarantee that the people around you know that you are doing the wrong thing.

So, are you being a “Barney”?

Knowing yourself is the first step to true greatness in your life. We are all created for a great calling by our God and I believe we have to look inward and upward to find our true God-calling.

When David was a young boy he went down to the front lines of a war to deliver some food to his brothers who were in the Israelite army. He refused to let the giant, Goliath, disrespect his God and informed King Saul that he would take care of Goliath. As an aside, sometimes our dreams seem ridiculous and crazy to those around us, but when we lean on God and pursue what he has truly gifted and called us to great things will happen. We all know the story of how David used a sling and a stone to defeat the giant and deliver his country from oppression from the Philistines.

What we don’t often remember is that King Saul initially dressed David out in his royal armor. King Saul was earlier described in 1 Samuel as a handsome man and one that stood head and shoulders over any other man in Israel. Clearly his strength and size were gifts that David did not have. When David tried on the king’s armor and helmet and carried his sword he quickly determined that he was not going to be able to move in this get-up and would be slowed down? David told Saul that he could not go in that armor and he took it off and put on his own clothes and took his staff, sling and five smooth stones to the lines of battle. What!?! David knew that he could not be someone else. He had to do things the way he was specifically gifted to do.

Personally, I would want to take as much protection as I could if I was facing Goliath. But David knew he could not be as effective as King Saul is in his own armor. The lesson for us is that we should not strive to be like those around us. We should not be jealous of the gifts that they have been given.  We should strive to determine what God has blessed us to do and seek out ways to use our gifts in life.

So, do you know yourself?  Do you know what you have been gifted to do?  Are you doing good things or God things?  Are you doing something that doesn’t fit you?  Are you being weighed down by the expectations of others or by trying to do something that you aren’t gifted for?  Seek God.  Explore yourself.  Find what you are called to do.  Know yourself and do something great.

Are you just killing time every day?  I have been there.  A lot of “jobs” get where you can just manage them with minimal effort after a while.  You don’t have to put any thought into them and you can basically coast through your work life.  Your results are good, but not great, and you can make sure enough gets done so you can keep your job.  You aren’t compensated for better results so why would you work harder or work for better results.

Now, imagine that you are doing what you love.  What are your hobbies.  What activities do you do where you don’t watch the clock.  Or when you watch the clock, you cannot believe how the time is flying by?  We will be going through some exercises to help you figure out what God uniquely gifted you to do.  You may find that after completing those exercises that you are not doing what God gifted you to do?  You may find that you are just killing time.  Some people may know without doing anything that they are just killing time and not doing what they were created for, but you don’t know where to begin in finding your life passion.

I firmly believe that God created each of us to do something in particular.  Something very specific.  If you don’t unleash your God-given skills and abilities then you most certainly will injure your eternity.

“Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision.”

- Anonymou

When we have a clear vision for each aspect of our lives (professional, financial, relationship with God, personal relationships with others, and physical) the different things that pull at our lives and demand our time will be easier to deal with.

Most people have their professional life planned out pretty well.  I guess because we spend so much time there and people rate and judge one another by the success of their careers or their businesses.  For example, Southwest Airlines had the vision to be “the low fare airline.”  That was the filter they passed all ideas through.  So if someone had an idea in a staff meeting to add dinner to the New York to L.A. evening flights, the next question asked would be, “how does that help us to be the low fare airline?”  If it did not help them achieve their goal to be the low fare airline the idea was scapped.  So if an idea raised costs that caused the company to raise fares it would not help them achieve their overall corporate vision.  That doesn’t mean the ideas are bad, they just don’t help you achieve your vision.

Now, apply this principal to the five aspects of your life.  But wait…if you don’t have a vision for all aspects of your life then there is nothing to apply.

You need a clear vision for your professional life, physical life, your relationship with God, your relationship with others, and your financial life.  I would encourage you to get with your spouse and work on things like your vision for your marriage, for your children, how you spend money, how you save money, etc.  But what if I’m not married?  In your case, you don’t want to just be married.  Start putting in writing what you want your marriage to look like.  That way when you meet a guy or girl and start getting serious you can apply your vision to see if things “fit.”

The bottom line is that life happens.  You are bombarded with things every day.  Decisions, choices, alternatives, consequences.  What do you pick.  How do you make the decision?  Look at your question through the lens of your vision.  You can take that job that will pay you twice as much money, but you will have to move across the country and work 80 hours per week.  How does this effect your vision of your marriage, your relationship with your kids, your involvement in your local church, does it leave you any time to exercise and take care of your body?

For me, the physical part is hard.  I ask, “Should I eat that extra piece (or three) of pizza?”  For the last few years I haven’t had any vision for my physical health.  I always had an excuse.  I was in law school and that took up a lot of time for study and homework, I was studying for the bar, we just had a baby and I need my sleep, etc.  Over the past four-five years I have put on some serious weight.  I have to get focused on this area and answer the tough questions like the one above or, “would you like a Krispy Kreme donut?”  Maybe the answer should be, “no, I’m trying to lose 40 pounds so eating that extra piece of pizza will not help me achieve that vision for my life.”

Once you have a specific, clear vision for the major aspects of your life the decisions will start to get easier.  You won’t have to stress over making those decisions.  You just have to see if it helps you get closer to being “the low fare airline” or if it moves your further from that goal.  For most decisions that you make, there are no super-bad choices, but they may be bad for you.

Start working on and praying that God would reveal your life-vision so when the next big decision comes your way you can decide with confidence.  Like the lead-in quote to this post says, a lack of things does not cause your dissatisfaction, it is a lack of vision.

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Too many of us just ramble around in life.  We are so busy with everything we have to do each day.  Get up, get the kids ready, get ourselves ready, drop the kids off at school, work, work, work, pick up the kids, dinner, work, read, watch some TV, work, go to sleep, do it all over again.  Most of our lives are not lived on purpose, but are actually lived in reaction to what comes up during the day.  We are sidetracked and sent down rabbit holes because there is no plan – just reaction.  I’ll admit it, I am pretty anal.  In my office, I generally have a To Do list each day.  If I do something that isn’t on the list – I add it to the list so I can check it off.  The day might start out good with me checking things off the list.  But an “emergency” always seems to arise.  Usually when I don’t have time for it, and though it isn’t on my list I shift gears and try to take care of the “emergency.”

Life gets to be about putting out the fires that just pop up around us.  I feel like Alice in the story above, except that it does matter to me where I end up.  The Cheshire Cat was quite correct when he said, you will certainly get “somewhere” if you just walk long enough.  Who knows where that somewhere is unless you are living your life on purpose and according to your strengths, gifts and passions with a clear goal or vision in mind.

Can you look into the future by seeing what those 5, 10, or 20 years ahead of you in your career path look like now?  Can you live with that?  That was one of the main reasons I left the engineering field and took the leap over to the legal field.  There are depressing people in all fields – and scary futures depending on who you look at.  There are also exciting, charismatic people in all fields.  I was able to have lunch recently with a local judge, a state Court of Appeals Judge and many bright attorneys.  A few weeks before that I attending a trial lawyers convention and was able to hang out with hundreds of excellent attorneys.  Needless to say, I felt very recharged about my career after that meeting.  By seeing these successul people who are excited about what they are doing every day of their life, it makes it easier for me to craft a very clear vision of my future.

Are you living minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day?  Or do you have a clear plan of action for your life?  When you think about your future do you think about tomorrow, next week, or five years down the road?  Are you doing mind-numbing work or are you engaging your passions and gifts?

When you are in touch with your God-given passion you are on fire for life. People can easily tell whether you are passionate about your life or if you are just getting by. You wear that on your sleeve and you can’t cover it up.

If you are living your passion, you don’t watch the clock – if you do, you’re wishing there were more hours in the day to keep one doing what you love. There is no need for an alarm clock because you can’t wait for the sun to come up so you can start your day. One of the most important things about living a life of passion is that you have the objective clearly in mind. Therefore, if a little roadblock gets in your way you won’t be totally sidetracked. You can see far enough down the road toward your end goal that the little things don’t deter you. Once you have identified your passion and you go after it each and every day you will begin to build momentum. As John Wesley said, “people love to come and see you burn.” People want to be apart of something fresh, something exciting, something bigger than themselves.

The opposite is also true. If you loathe your life because you are just busy. You go and do the same thing you hate every day because you don’t know what else you would do. You aren’t living for anything except the hear and now. There is no goal. There is no end in sight. Things are not clear. They are foggy. Your tired, frustrated and stressed out. You know it and so does everyone else. And John Wesley’s quote is more painfully true if you are in this boat. When you are just blown around by the circumstances and worries of the day you are also very lonely because you’re not “burning” so no one has come by to see you.

Have you identified your passions?  We’ll talk on this blog about some ways I think you can find your passion and calling.  What are some ways you have used to determine what God placed you on this planet for?

Back in Bible times the talent was a portion of money.  In ancient Greece, a talent was the amount of money it would take to pay a crew of a trireme (a Greek warship) for one month’s work.  This was at least 50 people, but probably more.  M-W.com’s definiton of “talent” is: a characteristic feature, aptitude, or disposition of a person or animal or the natural endowments of a person.

I think Jesus was probably “double talking” to those listening to this parable.  They would clearly understand a talent is a lot of money, but might also see that Jesus was trying to get at the particular aptitude or endowment that the individual was good at.

I have always been kind of jealous of some of my friends and even my brother.  They seem to be the guys that God gave five talents to (or sometimes more).  And their gifts are very clear.  They are good musicians and singers, artists, and speakers.  Something that God could really use for his kingdom here on earth.  I feel like I’m the guy that just got one talent.  And it seems like it is pretty obscure.  I have been working hard trying to find out what my talent(s) is/are, but more importantly how I can I use my talents for God’s glory.  Because I don’t want to stand before God when I die and look back on the things I did in my life and have God call me lazy and wicked because I buried my talent and did not use it.

In my daily Bible reading I am currently reading in 1 Timothy.  1 Timothy is a letter from the Apostle Paul to his protege, Timothy.  Kind of a little coaching session from the master to the student.  In Chapter 4, Paul told Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have…Practice these things , immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”

Like the first two servants in the parable of the talents, we have to use our talents and gifts.  We should also take Paul’s advice and practice and immerse ourselves in them so we progress to the point of excellence.  Our gifts and talents come easily and naturally to us.  But we should strive to be the best in the world at them and not do them half way.  It was always frustrating to me when I was playing high school football.  There were some natural athletes on the team that didn’t have to work out and they could bench press 300 pounds and run a 4.4 secord 40 yard dash.  Then there was me – the skinny, short, slow kid who did everything he could and seemed to hit the glass ceiling on his potential way too early.  Those “naturals” out there could have played college football, but they didn’t.  They were lazy.  They didn’t use their talents.  I know if I was frustrated and mad because these guys who were my teammates didn’t use their talents to their full potential – I can’t imagine how frustrated God must get when His children, His creation fail to use their talents or fail to give him their full and best effort.

So.  Are you burying your talents and gifts?  Or, are you fully using them to bring glory to God?  Will God be able to say “well done, good and faithful servant?”

Are you passionate about what you spend your time doing? Do you really love it? I have spent a lot of time trying to identify my passions, spiritual gifts, and abilities. I refuse to live a life of mediocrity where I am good at what I do but I can’t stand doing it. I think life is too short and your passion is located at the intersection of your passions, spiritual gifts, experiences, and values. That is how God made you unique from any other person on this planet to live out your specific mission.

I recently read a quote that shook my core from Jim Cymbala’s book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire that says, “I despair at the thought that my life might pass me by without God moving greatly on my behalf.”

No matter how comfortable my life is, it is worthless if I am just coasting through not doing what I was created for and God will surely not be “moving greatly on my behalf.” So I hope that you can find your passion as well because I think carries over into all parts of life – finances, career, relationships, spirituality, and physical wellbeing.

Since my search for passion is what is really driving me now. I will probably be writing a lot about it. I want my search to be helpful to others in finding their life passions so they can function at 100% effectiveness.