Mystery Job: Clues to date

September 9, 2008 at 12:34 am (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Prayer, Reading, Religion, Service, audiobooks, business, life balance, spirituality, work as worship)

I thought I would summarize the breadcrumbs (aka “clues”) I have dropped so far, so you could see the trail of where I’ve already been laid out more clearly.  There have been a few hints I’ve dropped without labeling them as such, so we’ll see if you were paying attention!

  1. I’m a Baha’i
  2. I love to learn
  3. I love to read
  4. This new career involves at least one activity that requires “mushin”
  5. It allows me total freedom to set my schedule
  6. It lets me use my unique talents (public speaking, organization, leadership and communication) 
  7. It lets me serve humanity through the Baha’i Faith
  8. Books on CD
  9. It fills a need which I have identified in the world
  10. My mission through Verdanta is to “be always occupied with the mention of Baha’u'llah.”
  11. It involves building a business that aligns with the teachings of the Baha’i Faith
  12. My success depends on persistent, consistent, constant action.
  13. I have used the five steps described in “The Power of Prayer” to get where I am today.

That’s it so far.  I’ll even toss out one more:

  14.  It requires the purchase of quite a bit of equipment that must be installed, configured, and learned.

Has anyone figured it out yet?  Drop me a comment and let me know your guess!

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Overcoming Fear and Doubt on the Road to Success

August 25, 2008 at 11:58 pm (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Faith, Mystery, Passion, Work, spirituality)
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Earlier this year, when the very first thought of this new career path crossed my mind, I immediately dismissed it.  Why?  Because it was way too scary: too many things I didn’t know, too many people I would need to meet, too many skills I would need to acquire.  But somehow, here I am, well on my way down that new, scary path. 

One of the hardest things to do, regardless of what path you choose, is to overcome fear and doubt, especially when contemplating a new path.  It helps to have a few tools in your tool box to handle them.  One of the tools I use to deal with fear and doubt is faith.  I have faith that the path I am on is the right path for me at this time.  Beyond that, I have faith that if I am on the wrong path, it will be made obvious to me by closed doors and failed opportunities.  It may take me a while to catch on that the door of opportunity has closed, but eventually I will, and then I can start checking for open windows. 

Let me give you an example.  It took me two tries to write a thesis for my Master’s degree.  The first time, I chose a topic that seemed perfect.  But by the end of the second semester, I hated my topic, I hadn’t even completed my lit review, and I had lost three committee members including my chair.  I was miserable, but I persevered, gutting it out to the end of the semester. 

That summer, I threw up my hands and said “That’s it! I give up.  I’m reading what I want to read for a while!”  At the end of the summer, I had found a new topic, one which energized and excited me.  But it was totally different than my original topic.  To switch would mean dumping a years worth of work, and I didn’t really think anyone but me would interested in what I wanted to write about.  Talk about fear and doubt!  Eventually, I did toss that first thesis, starting over completely from scratch.  And was it worth it!  My second thesis was amazing.  I loved writing it, and I loved the final product.  A far cry from my first effort!

What does all that mean?  When making a decision that will affect the direction of your life, choose a path and have faith that it’s the correct one.  Have faith that God, or the Universe, or the Creator, whatever you call that unknowable essence that created us, will correct your path if you’re not where you should be.   Then start looking for open windows!

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Mystery job: Clue #7

August 15, 2008 at 4:37 pm (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Faith, Humanity, Mother, Mystery, Parenthood, Passion, Religion, Service, Wife, Work, spirituality, work as worship)

The other night, my son was complaining about his homework load.  Dad tried to say that he (Dad) had to do homework for 8 hours a day and wasn’t that much worse?  My son said, “Dad, you’re not doing homework, that’s just work.  But you’re right, it’s not fun either.  Work isn’t supposed to be fun.” 

When he said that, I felt a little sad.  He’s already figured out that work is something you do because you have to, not because you enjoy it.  I interjected, “Well, it’s not fun for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a job doing something you enjoy.  In fact, that’s what you should try to do!”  He answered, “Really? Pumpkin pie, Mom.”  That’s his code word for “tell the truth,” like that was too crazy to be true. 

A lot of people have talked about finding their bliss.  I, like many others, enjoy a lot of different things.  It’s more a matter of figuring out how to use some combination of those passions to support your family.  I’ve done a lot of reading, taken some seminars, and explored several possible avenues as potential “blisses.”  Unfortunately, for one reason or another, none of them have panned out.  I tried teaching at the local community college.  I’ve been offered my old engineering job back.  I’ve volunteered on several projects, including service projects.  I’ve even looked into real estate and stock market investing, right before both crashed.  While the learning was valuable, the end destination was never the magic panacea I was hoping for.   Something was always missing: time with my family, flexibility, stability, service to humanity… 

Baha’u'llah told us that “any work performed in the spirit of service is exalted to the level of worship.”  That could be anything from mopping floors to running a mega-corporation.  As long as the work is done to the utmost of one’s ability, with the attitude towards that work being one of wanting to improve the lot of humanity, then it is just as praiseworthy as going to Church, or sitting in meditation, praying.  I decided I wanted to find a job that lets me serve humanity in some fashion, preferably directly through the Baha’i Faith. 

Elsewhere, I’ve listed the requirements of “my perfect job,” including that it must “engage my passions.” As long as those passions are engaged, I will have a job that I can look forward to doing, rather than doing it because I must.  Serving humanity is one those passions.  I really want to do something that will make the world a better place, in a rather concrete, tangible way, and will hopefully outlast my little time here on earth. 

And that is Clue #7: My new career will allow me to serve humanity through the Baha’i Faith.

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