{"id":1009,"date":"2018-11-11T04:18:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T04:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=1009"},"modified":"2018-11-11T04:18:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T04:18:43","slug":"job-versus-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html","title":{"rendered":"Your Job Versus Your Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"beverage-computer-flower-948888\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So often, we get frustrated with our jobs because we treat them like they are our calling. As a result, we give our jobs a higher level of importance\u00a0than they deserve.\u00a0 Then if we have a bad day at work, or our boss doesn\u2019t appreciate us, we feel badly about ourselves.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, there are a lucky few for whom their jobs are their calling. But for most of us, our jobs simply are a way to make money, and God\u2019s calling for our lives is something very different.\u00a0 And that is OK!\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with your job not being your life calling.<\/p>\n

For instance, I have a job which I enjoy. It is pleasant enough.\u00a0 I work in the legal field, so my job allows me to use my law degree.\u00a0 In addition, I serve the public, which makes my job more meaningful.\u00a0 But my job, ultimately, is just a way to make money.\u00a0 Nothing more.\u00a0 So, I don\u2019t invest a lot of emotional energy in it.\u00a0 As a result, if I have a bad day at work, or I don\u2019t feel adequately appreciated for my efforts, that is OK.\u00a0 The purpose of my job is to make money to pay the bills, nothing more.<\/p>\n

Of course, as a matter of self-respect, I work hard and try to do my job well. However, I don\u2019t identify myself with my job or title.\u00a0 My job isn\u2019t who I am.\u00a0 And I would hope that in my obituary, my job merely will be a small footnote compared to the other things that I have done with my life.<\/p>\n

When you keep your work life in perspective, you then can devote your real mental energy to God\u2019s calling for your life.\u00a0 And frankly, you may have more than one calling!\u00a0 I do.\u00a0 For example, I am first and foremost called to be a good mother to my daughter and a good wife to my husband.\u00a0 But I also feel called to be a loyal friend to a few trusted people in my life.\u00a0 And I feel called to write this column for Beliefnet.\u00a0 Writing this column is incredibly meaningful for me.<\/p>\n

The key to being happy with your life is to be able to distinguish those things that you do that are practical activities (making money, cleaning your house, cooking, etc.) from those things that you do that are God\u2019s calling for your life.<\/p>\n

We all have to do practical activities. We all have to make money to pay bills, and we have to do the chores that make life more civilized and pleasant.\u00a0 But our emotional energy should not be directed toward our practical activities.\u00a0 Rather, our emotional energy and drive should be directed toward those activities which are our calling.<\/p>\n

So, at the end of the day, what matters is not whether my boss gave me a pat on the back or a raise for a job well done. Rather, what matters is this:\u00a0 Have I been a good mother today?\u00a0 Is my daughter happy and secure?\u00a0 Does my husband feel cared for by me?\u00a0 Have I reached out to a friend today to give him or her some support?\u00a0 Have I made a positive contribution to the world through my column on Beliefnet?<\/p>\n

This week, take some time to consider which are your practical activities in life versus your life calling. Do a good job in all things, but give your emotional and mental energy to your calling.\u00a0 When you realize what is important in life \u2013 accomplishing your calling \u2013 the irritations that inevitably arise from our practical activities aren’t nearly so frustrating.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So often, we get frustrated with our jobs because we treat them like they are our calling. As a result, we give our jobs a higher level of importance\u00a0than they deserve.\u00a0 Then if we have a bad day at work, or our boss doesn\u2019t appreciate us, we feel badly about ourselves. Admittedly, there are a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nYour Job Versus Your Calling - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Job Versus Your Calling - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So often, we get frustrated with our jobs because we treat them like they are our calling. As a result, we give our jobs a higher level of importance\u00a0than they deserve.\u00a0 Then if we have a bad day at work, or our boss doesn\u2019t appreciate us, we feel badly about ourselves. Admittedly, there are a…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-11T04:18:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2018\/11\/beverage-computer-flower-948888.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Meerabelle Dey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Your Job Versus Your Calling - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Your Job Versus Your Calling - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","og_description":"So often, we get frustrated with our jobs because we treat them like they are our calling. As a result, we give our jobs a higher level of importance\u00a0than they deserve.\u00a0 Then if we have a bad day at work, or our boss doesn\u2019t appreciate us, we feel badly about ourselves. Admittedly, there are a…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html","og_site_name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","article_published_time":"2018-11-11T04:18:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2018\/11\/beverage-computer-flower-948888.jpg"}],"author":"Meerabelle Dey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html","name":"Your Job Versus Your Calling - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2018\/11\/beverage-computer-flower-948888.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-11T04:18:43+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-11T04:18:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2018\/11\/beverage-computer-flower-948888.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2018\/11\/beverage-computer-flower-948888.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/11\/job-versus-calling.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Job Versus Your Calling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/","name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Meerabelle Dey","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c","name":"Meerabelle Dey","description":"Meerabelle Dey has a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from the University of Toronto and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Much of her legal career has been spent dealing with issues affecting women, children and the poor. She has lived in the United States, Canada and the Middle East. Meerabelle now devotes her time to writing. Her mission is to use her writing to inspire others to achieve God\u2019s unique purpose for their life.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/author\/mdey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1013,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions\/1013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}