How to Identify Your Calling

Gary North

Oct. 30, 2012

Your calling is the most important thing you can do in which you would be most difficult to replace.

Do you have one? No? Do you want one? Yes? So, how do you identify it? There is a straightforward way.

There is an acronym: DABDA. It stands for denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. This is a universal five-stage reaction to the physician's announcement: "You must get your affairs in order."

Denial -- Coping usually begins with the person thinking "No way, not me."

Anger -- "Not me" will usually give way to "Why me?" as the person begins to accept the reality of the illness and becomes angry.

Bargaining -- As anger subsides, or even in it's midst, the person may begin to bargain for more time.

Depression -- When it becomes obvious that bargaining won't work, depression may set it.

Acceptance -- If the person is able to move through one or more of the previous stages, they may be lucky enough to reach the stage of acceptance before death.

http://dying.about.com/od/thedyingprocess/a/DABDA.htm

I now move to B: bargaining.

The standard offer is this:

"God, if you will let me live, I will do the following for you."

My favorite example of this is seen in this clip from The End, a comedy starring Burt Reynolds. This is the scene where he has swum out to sea in an attempt to commit suicide. Then he changes his mind.

So, here's the deal. People make a deal. They figure out what would be the most valuable thing they can do, in the eyes of God. Then they try to swap performance for time.

If they had a calling, the bargain would be this:

I am ten years into my calling. I can finish it if I have five more years. If I don't have another five years, then I cannot finish it. So, if you want it finished, let me live another five years.

Focus on ends and means. The end is the completion of an existing project of value. The means is life extension. To achieve the end, it must not be "the end."

What would you offer God in exchange for more time? Presumably, that is your calling.

Do you have nothing worth negotiating? Then you have no calling.

Do you want a calling?