Finding Your Vocation

I read a great article tonight by NY Times columnist David Brooks called "It's Not About You". The article talks about American college students and their expectations when it comes to finding a job and fulfillment in that job. Brooks says,

"Today’s graduates are also told to find their passion and then pursue their dreams. The implication is that they should find themselves first and then go off and live their quest. But, of course, very few people at age 22 or 24 can take an inward journey and come out having discovered a developed self." 

I find myself convicted. Here I've been looking for a job that will turn into a great career, make me successful, prosperous, and happy. I have been stressing and obsessing trying to find that perfect position only to find there is no such thing. I was right when I compared jobs to a non-existent unicorn in my earlier post. Could it be that I am going about this all the wrong way? I have been doing some serious heart searching trying to find out exactly what kind of job will make me happy for the next 30 years, but I was confronted with reality today in the form of Brooks' article. I've been trying to find out exactly who I am and who I want to be so that I could mold a career off of myself, when actually it is the other way around. To steal Brooks' phrase, " Most people don’t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling." 

This doesn't mean I suddenly have all the answers- I still am unemployed- but I have a new perspective. I don't have a world problem to solve; I don't know my calling. But here is what I do know: I know I don't want to sit at home while my husband goes off to work. I know I like people and interacting with people. I like business environments. I like puppies. I like wearing high heels. I need money for a puppy and shoes. I want a job with friendly people. And if you shlug (a word I just made up meaning to wade and swim through something thick) through all that you discover the bottom line. 

                I do not need a perfect job. Perfect jobs do not exist. I need to get A job- any job- and EXCEL at it. I feel like I am quoting a lot of Brooks' article, but it is just so good, so I can justify one last quote (with my added emphasis), and with it I will end this post:

       "The graduates are also told to pursue happiness and joy. But, of course, when you read a biography of someone you admire, it’s rarely the things that made them happy that compel your admiration. It’s the things they did to court unhappiness — the things they did that were arduous and miserable, which sometimes cost them friends and aroused hatred. It’s excellence, not happiness, that we admire most."