It’s About The Journey, Not The Job

The Only Journey Is The One Within.
-Rainer Maria Rike

I spent the majority of my day soul searching today. Really trying to land on what it is I am suppose to be doing in this season of my life. Most of the day I was quiet, I didn’t speak to anyone, I listened to music I love and I sat with myself. I did some work, but mostly I just sat with Darlene. I knew that I needed to land today, I needed to understand the next step I am suppose to be taking in my life.

The quandry I was struggling with had to do with what job am I suppose to be doing. I have an opportunity, and I lost an opportunity today. Do I stand still and keep doing what I am doing or do I make a change, and step into a new job?

The problem: I was operating from mystery. And I hate that… I don’t believe in operating from mystery. What does that mean you may ask? Well, if you ask yourself, “What am I pretending not to know?” You will begin to understand this Darleneism I call “operating from mystery.” I believe that the answers to most questions we have lie within us. I already know what I am suppose to be doing, and yet here I was wrestling within myself. With questions I already know the answers to, and yet I struggle…

So, what are you pretending not to know?

In the course of my day today, I visited a blog called Little Red Suit. I read a story called the Parable of the Little Red Suit. Good story. It helped me. It gave me some clarity. Here is a portion of the comment I left on the post.

My journey has caused me to pause for so many reasons this week, but mostly because I am truly searching for what the “right” thing is for me to do in my life. I could continue to do the job I am being paid to do at this moment or I can RISK yet again, and move forward into a whole new world. I believe I choose the latter. Why? Because, one of my favorite quotes by Whoopi Goldberg from Sister Act 2 says, “If every day when you wake up and all you can think about is singing, you’re suppose to be SINGING girl!”

Well, I know what I wake up thinking about everyday and I am not doing it. And it is time I did. I am suppose to be teaching, coaching and shaping destinies. Helping people be successful. I do that to some extent in my life on a VERY small scale. But my purpose is bigger than the sandbox I am playing in.

For most of my adult life, I have been striving and pursuing jobs, but I figured it out today in my quietness… I have been focused on the wrong thing. It’s not at all about the job I am doing or the job I am suppose to be doing. It is about my journey to accomplishing my purpose. It is about the lives I get to touch, and it is about the legacy I will leave my children. I can do ANY job, but there is destination I am to get to and the jobs are more about intermediate steps or stops on my journey. Not the jobs in and of themselves.

Have you ever wondered what you are suppose to be doing with your life? Maybe you even know what you were created to do, but for some reason you are not doing it? Are you in a job that you loathe? Are you pursuing a profession that you have been in for years, but it has nothing to do with what you are passionate about?

Get your eyes off the job you are doing and/or the job you want and start looking at the destination, your purpose and your passion and you will begin to move closer to fulfilling what you were actually created to do.