Feed Your Soul – for everything else, there’s MasterCard

Good Monday Morning,

I was talking to a close friend of mine this past week about work, career, and jobs and came to a very interesting conclusion that I thought I would share with you. I think we all go through life wondering if what we’re doing at any particular time is the ‘right’ thing for us in any number of areas of life.

If you’re like me, on an occasion, or more frequently the older you get (daily sometimes), you ask your self questions about work, career, and what you do in life as your calling.  Seemingly the older you get, the more frequently this question arrises; yet, it’s when your younger and in the formative, “I’ve got to figure this out” stage that it should really be asked most often – continuously.  I guess the first learning is that if you ask the question “What do I want to do, to be, etc.?” more often when you’re younger, you really wouldn’t have to ask it at all later in life. Because, you’d have figured it out reasonably well and to a certain level of satisfaction. Obviously, circumstances in life change and questions like this are often the result of changing events, beyond our control; however, generally speaking, I would argue that asking these thought provoking questions early on in life eliminates or at least mitigates the need to ponder them as one matures.

So, the real essence of this question, and what I want you to think about, is this: “How does one satisfy the soul while at the same time feeding the pocket?”  And, this is what I believe to be the root of much unhappiness – how do I satisfy the altruistic needs that I have and know to be the ‘right’ thing to do for a career and life calling while still meeting the financial burdens that society places upon us?  These two ideals are definitely at odds with one another and often we choose one over the other or at the expense of the other in deciding what our life calling/career should be.  This was the focus of the conversation that I had with my good friend and we could both relate, similarly.

After much discussion, here’s the position that we arrived:  If you feed the soul, the rest will come naturally, including financial security, happiness, and peace of mind knowing that you’re doing what you love and are passionate about. If you do that “Feed the Soul”, I believe that in your life’s work – your calling – you will achieve a level of satisfaction and happiness that is immeasurable. And, once again, that satisfaction and happiness will fuel your success, which as a result, will feed your pocket.  It doesn’t work the other way – you can’t feed your pocket and satisfy the soul.  As you continue your academic endeavors, don’t quit asking, looking, and seeking that which will feed the soul, make you happy, and the things in life for which you’re passionate i.e., your calling.  In large part, that’s the purpose of what you’re doing – to validate and solidify that part of your life.  Ask the question, “What do I want to do, to be, etc.?” frequently without ceasing until you achieve clarity, and then, continue to ask it until you know in your soul that it feels right.

“Feed your soul – for everything else, there’s MasterCard” . . .

God bless & have a great week.