What are you really like inside?

Have you really, I mean really wondered, what you are like inside. If we've never had the desire or the need to know our real self, then we're maybe fortunate, perhaps not. Few have known exactly what life holds for them or what their calling is.

Jim, a farmer, had just finished harvesting the last of his crop before fall and winter set in. "Whew," he said, "I'm tired, "and he wiped wet, dripping sweat from his brow. His furrowed forehead gave evidence that wrinkles were soon to appear -- those formed by the wind, cold and hot weather. "Is it worth it?" Jim pondered.

His neighbor, Malcolm, had also finished the last of his farm work for winter. The difference in their outlooks toward their completed farm tasks was in their attitudes. Malcolm roared with laughter, his fat belly bouncing up and down. He was already looking forward to planting and harvesting fresh grain and vegetables next year. His ruddy face shone with reddish brown color on his cheeks. Jim was exhausted and disappointed. He was out of sorts because his farming success seemed to be a dismal chore and provided little fulfillment. Jim decided to step back and get to know himself better -- ask if he had chosen the right vocation.

My husband's dad, Roy, had always been a businessman. He owned a dry-cleaning enterprise and was quite satisfied. He liked dealing with customers, especially, and the feeling of success, that came as a bonus. Later on, however, Roy grew tired of being in the public eye and decided to change his lifework. He no longer wanted to be an entrepreneur of a cleaning business. Thinking he was in the wrong profession, Roy sold the cleaning establishment and bought a farm. He was relatively successful in agriculture, but the money flow wasn't as he expected, and he and his wife missed the daily interaction with people. To make a long story, short, Roy, exited farming and opened a barbeque drive-in. He finally found out what he genuinely liked. He was a businessman at heart that finally recognized his genuine calling.

Why is knowing yourself, so important? Socrates said, "Know thyself." It is a journey. It takes time and effort, and the courage to step out of our comfort zone, to find out. Sometimes it's simply easier to just stay where we are, and dream about what we think we'd like to try. Our journey to knowing ourselves can be unpredictable and we may change directions, more than once. To know ourselves is to quit skimming the surface. It is, rather, to go off into a place of solitude and reach deep within. Ask our God for guidance. We have to dig so thoroughly that it's often uncomfortable. We search out our fears, what we've done, thus far, in our lives and ask what has brought us to the knowledge that we need to probe inside. There's a tickle somewhere. Something isn't right. What do we feel is our calling? Life is full of ups and downs so we cannot allow ourselves to believe that, every bump, signals that we're following the wrong path. The saying, "this too will pass," is a gift. It prompts us to realize that every setback isn't an omen that we are pursuing the wrong goals.

When an idea, a dream or a seemingly unreachable desire, constantly haunts us, let's try to see if we can make it happen. No one will so this for us. We have to be the driver at the wheel. It's our life and only we are responsible to find out how we can best serve our God and reach inner peace within. Sometimes we have to stop looking on the outside, to find out what satisfies our inner yearnings, and look into our hearts. If we don't, we'll never know who we are and what we're here for. The Tao the Ching says," knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich, "and "The cost of not following your heart is spending the rest of your life wishing you had."