Answering Your Calling

“There is a deep, innate, almost inexpressible yearning within each one of us to find our voice in life.” —Dr. Stephen R. Covey

I love Oprah. Don’t tell my wife that. I love watching her shows and reading her O Magazine. She inspires me and helps me to understand the power of giving. Today, I was fortunate to catch a show I had missed earlier. It featured ex-Microsoft executive John Wood. John was a high-profile executive at Microsoft. He had everything he could possibly wanted - paid-for business-class flights, a private chauffeured car, a beautiful home, and more money than he knew what to do with.

What made him walk away? On a trip to Nepal to “get away from the 24/7″ world of Microsoft, he visited some villages and discovered the appalling school conditions there. There were 70-80 children crammed into a dirt floor school house meant for 20. When it rained, the floor would turn into mud.

The library had 20 books which were left by traveling backpackers, but not suitable for children. John promised that he would return in one year with books. One of the teachers told him, many people who had visited said that they would return. No one ever did.

But John was different.

He said, “I was making wealthy shareholders wealthier” but there were millions of illiterate children in developing countries who could not read.

Was it hard to leave? “Oh it was so difficult … I was definitely left standing alone at parties.” People told him, “You’re crazy. You’re going through a midlife crisis.” But as John told Oprah, “You have your calling and can’t say no.”

He had originally promised to return to that small village in Nepal when he was on vacation with 300 books. Instead, a year later he returned with 3000 books. Today, he’s built 3600 libraries and collected 2.8 million books. In the past 7 years, he opened 287 schools. By the end of 2007, they’ll have 250 original book titles written by local authors.

When Oprah asked him if he knew that this was his mission he replied, “I had no idea. I just thought “‘maybe I was put on this Earth to do more.’”

What an amazing and inspiring story!

I want to ask you two questions:

1. “What is your calling?
2. “How have you answered it?”

My challenge to you:

1. Find Your Calling in Life.
2. Do Something about it.

“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.” -Jim Rohn