Passions, Rock Bottom Revelations, and the Challenge Ahead

Guide to Your Calling, Rock Bottom Revelations, The Challenge Ahead, Passion and Pain, If I’m Being Honest

I.

Guide to Your Calling

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. 

Unknown (sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein)

Inherent within us is a deep-seated understanding that we are destined for something extraordinary. While only a handful of people choose to delve into the specific purpose designed for them, and an even smaller number fully commit to embodying it, the majority often dismiss their calling, burying it deep within themselves. The decision to disregard one’s calling is a widespread occurrence influenced by the rational mind or ego.

The ego will have us believe that an innate “purpose” or “calling” is bogus. This perspective is propagated by the ego’s desire for a higher status in our lives, overshadowing intuition. Intuition operates as a distinct mind unto itself, connected to a boundless, divine source and residing within the body’s core. In contrast to the ego, which sustains an ongoing mental dialogue to assert its desires, the intuitive mind conveys wisdom through an inner Knowing, often called a gut instinct or sixth sense.

Intuition serves a broader purpose than merely alerting us to potential dangers or close calls. Its primary function is to steer us toward our authentic selves (i.e., our calling). It possesses knowledge of who we are and who we are destined to become, and its purpose is to assist us in unraveling that identity.

II.

Rock Bottom Revelations 

Years spent ignoring your calling and adopting a false identity will inevitably bring you to a place called Rock Bottom. Here, you must pause, rest, and reflect. You’ve suppressed your intuition for so long that your body aches from neglect. It yearns for physical activity, nourishment, and, most importantly, your acknowledgment. Where your attention goes, your energy flows. Having concentrated so heavily on the pursuits of your rational mind, you’ve inadvertently severed the connection to your core. To emerge from Rock Bottom, you must redirect your energy.

Rock Bottom, however important, is not the final destination to discover your calling. Instead, it serves as a crucial juncture for learning to release the ego’s grip and reconnect with your intuition. To turn the corner and depart Rock Bottom, you must relearn how to trust yourself. This faith (in yourself) is what will allow intuition to surface when the ego inevitably resists and fights to maintain control. And it doesn’t help that your intrinsic calling will be no easy feat. In fact, it’s likely to scare the sh*t out of you.

SpongeBob hopelessly waiting to depart Rock Bottom

III.

The Challenge Ahead

You know you’re in love when reality is finally better than your dreams. 

Unknown (sometimes attributed to Dr. Suess)

Your rational mind, which has largely dominated your decisions until now, will inevitably steer you toward superficial pursuits. And while these chosen endeavors may pose their own challenges—such as climbing the corporate ladder, engaging in online arguments, or undergoing cosmetic surgery—they will never truly fulfill you. Their outcomes may momentarily divert attention from your troubled psyche, but they remain makeshift pursuits, devoid of authenticity.

In contrast to your current trajectory, embracing your calling will evoke profound psychological fears. Fear of exposure, fear of failure, and fear of loss will accompany the pursuit of your authentic path. You don’t want others to reject the real you. You’re reluctant to be perceived as the person who left behind “everything” to pursue their calling, only to revert to your old ways once more. You’re hesitant to commit to becoming the optimal version of yourself, fearing the prospect of watching all your savings disappear before your eyes. These risks seem daunting, and may tempt you to remain on the safe and conventional path—one preordained by others—at the expense of your intuition.

Embarking on your calling is no easy feat. You aren’t given the gift of life to perform some petty little task. You’re here to accomplish something meaningful and complex. You’re here to manifest an individual calling from a metaphysical instinct into a physical incarnation.

What else is your life for? What other pursuit comes close to fulfilling your designed destiny and transforming yourself and the world around you in the process? If you weren’t capable of your calling, your intuition wouldn’t bother you as it does. The persistent dream that surfaces in the shower, on walks in the park, in conversations, and through journal entries reveals itself to you because its manifestation is possible. What if you wholeheartedly commit to bringing that dream to fruition? What if you evolved into the person capable of turning your aspirations into reality, eclipsing the rational fears that hold you back?

Imagine if your calling materialized.

What if your dreams became reality?

I reckon it’s worth the try to find out. 

IV.   

Passion and Pain

Passion is the bridge that takes you from pain to change.

Widely attributed to Frida Kahlo

When people are asked what their passions are, they often refer to hobbies, such as music, skiing, gardening, or traveling. While recreational pursuits are beneficial for the mind and soul, they are not the same thing as a passion.

The term passion originates from the sufferings of Christ on the Cross (i.e., “Christ’s passion”). In Late Latin, passionem means “suffering, enduring,” while in Middle English (mid-13th century), passion referred to “an ailment, disease, affliction,” or “an intense emotion, desire, inclination, feeling.” The word passion was never intended to describe “pastimes” in Neo-Latin languages and it certainly is not synonymous with “pleasure;” rather, it is more closely associated with pain.

Despite the immense fear accompanying our innate calling, a powerful passion exists to manifest it. In essence, we know we must suffer to do what we are designed to do. This subconscious understanding often leads people to abandon their passions because they cannot bear the thought of deliberate suffering. Nietzsche’s idea, “What does not kill me makes me stronger,” reflects his acute awareness of the transformative power of struggle and suffering in shaping stronger people capable of asserting their Will to power.

It cannot be emphasized enough: Your calling will not be easy. However, nothing easy will ever be worth your time (or your life). With this knowledge, you face a crucial choice. You can take the easy road and face future regret, or you can sacrifice your egoic desires to bring forth the passion that Providence has chosen for you.

The decision to endure suffering for your passions is a profoundly personal one. No one else can bear the struggle on your behalf or leverage your unique gifts for you. And frankly, no one cares whether you pursue your calling or not. If anything, others may hold you back because they themselves have chosen to abandon their passions. The decision to pursue your calling rests solely in your hands. The only external judgments you’ll face for the actions you did (or didn’t) take will come from the One who designed them for you.

V.   

If I’m Being Honest

Becoming a writer (and perhaps a teacher) terrifies me.

• I don’t know what I’ll write about before I begin. I don’t know how to convey my ideas in a way others can understand. I don’t know when I’ll revisit that shelved first draft because I don’t know how to write a second one.

• I don’t know how I’ll make money. I don’t know how I’ll make a living. I don’t even know what I’ll call myself. (Calling myself a writer makes me feel like an impostor).

• I don’t know why I decided to write this newsletter, I don’t know how I’ve made it this far, and I don’t know where I’m going. (And I certainly don’t know what I’m doing.)

But despite all my uncertainties and fears, I show up anyway. And oddly enough, it all feels right.

I never wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be something cool. This calling was chosen for me, and I dug a colossal hole in my core to bury it. I hoped and prayed that I’d simply fuhgeddaboudit. I pursued false ideals and chased after superficial goals until I hit Rock Bottom. To rediscover my Self, I had to resurrect the hidden passion within. I realized that if I didn’t go after it, I’d be better off dead.

So, here I am, and here you are, reading the result of my struggles. I could have never predicted I’d end up here—baring my soul to strangers. But, apparently, it’s what I was designed to do.