Today I remember a conversation I had with my husband years ago. We were talking about careers and our future. We asked this question: "What makes you feel most alive and most like yourself?" His answer matched exactly with what he was already doing with his life.
Mine didn't, but I was getting there. I felt most alive and most me when I was teaching and writing. So I reasoned that God made me for these things. In His goodness and creativity, perhaps God made it so that when we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, it will feel like we're fully alive, energized, and truly ourselves.
I'm starting to believe that when we find that thing we were made for, it won't feel like drudgery. Maybe it won't feel like work.
Psychologist Greg Hocott was once asked how he could manage his difficult counseling practice. He writes, "I think the answer is found in doing what God created us to do. We are all endowed with specific talents and gifts, and as long as we live within them, 'work' seems less difficult."
Maybe this explains why blogging never feels like work. Maybe this explains why I can't wait for the new semester to start. I'll tell my students that I love teaching and writing so much that I would do it for free. That's a good thing, I'll tell them, because I practically am doing it for free. Nobody teaches for the money!
Living with flair means finding ways to do what we love. It means being brave enough to pursue those paths.
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Journal: Do you love your work so much you would do it for free?
