Finding Our Vocation

As a recent graduate of Georgetown College, I have been blessed to be in an environment that challenges me to discover my vocation. I have learned that it is not something that I will find but something I do, which is never complete. As I live out my life, I live out my vocation. Finding our vocation is ordering our lives in a fashion that fosters an understanding in which the needs of the world and the desires of our heart and mind intersect. But I have come to another understanding about this quest. I am fortunate to be in a social class that allows me to seek my vocation. I can challenge every person I meet to begin thinking about what their vocation is, but many are not in the position to ask such questions. It is very unfortunate that many people cannot reflect upon their gifts and desires to pursue those. Some may be stuck in a job they do not like, but it pays the bills. Since I am on this side of beginning my career, I am able to direct my career and life towards my vocation. But it is very important to not limit our vocation to our career, but to our way of life. If my vocation is to inspire children but I am stuck behind a desk from day to day, I can still find many children's lives to connect mine with throughout my community. As I hope to always ask how my life reaches out to the needs of the world, I hope to remember how blessed I am even to ask this question. Maybe our vocations should seek to help others begin the quest of vocation in their own lives despite any job they many find themselves in.
dr

The Art of Comunication

Communication is one of the most essential components to any relationship, but it can also be the hardest. Many times we assume that the other person communicates the same way we do because it is so easy for us. Our own style of communication is beneficial and works for us, so we assume it would be beneficial and work for everyone else as well. The act of communication becomes complicated when the very way we think and talk about our ideas come against the way the one we are talking to expresses their own ideas. So many times our own choice of words may or may not represent what we are trying to express. When I become confused at what point the person is trying to get across, I try to scrutinize and analyze their words seeking the meaning of those words. But this may portray that someone must fully understand all the implications of the words one chooses to use before they speak them. Because we cannot fully know what our words may imply to another person this becomes an impossible task. My very act of analyzing a person's words may actually cause that person not to express them because I am not listening to their words to understand them but I may only be listening for a chance to prove them wrong. Even if this is not the goal of this type of communication, this is what this communication style may imply. Then my approach to communication does not enhance but hinder it. When I am not seeking to prove the person wrong but merely wanting to listen, my focus on the actual use of words may also distract me from what the person is actually saying. As we live our lives in many different relationships it is not necessarily important to merely understand the other person's perspective but also how our own perspective becomes translated within the other person's ideas and beliefs. The difficult task of constructive communication makes our relationships very complicated but also very rewarding, so it will always be very favorable towards the growth of our relationships.
dr

My First Post

Many of my friends have their own blogs, so I decided to join the fun. While I have not decided what to actually write on my own blog, I am excited about the possibillities that are before me.
dr