“Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
– Alan Watts, philosopher, as quoted in Gregg Levoy’s book, “Callings”
“Discernment,” Levoy tells us, “is hard work. It’s also fallible.” And that’s because certainty is often impossible to attain. Yes, we know that 2+2 will always equal 4. Most other “equations,” however, have far less certain outcomes. And, there is not much in mathematics that will help us define ourselves, or discern our true callings.
Clarity is SO much more important than certainty, because it brings us closer to understanding.
Precious few of life’s big decisions have anything in common with simple equations. And, it’s rare that we can sum ourselves up in one word. For example, let’s consider these “definitions.” Teacher. Coach. Leader. Competitor. Those are all terms that I hope make up part of any definition of who I am, but each is just that, a part of a bigger, evolving picture. Can I be certain that in every instance, with every client, teammate or partner that I am teaching, leading, coaching? Not likely. So certainty, the all elusive and impossible-to-grasp goal so many of us try to apply in evaluating our callings, can be maddening for it’s absence.
Clarity, however, while subjective (and sometimes almost as evasive), is also more important. Clarity puts us in a position to take action. As Levoy puts it in the book, “Good judges understand that the truth is not simple…(and) eventually reach a decision and act on it, which is perhaps the best way to practice discernment.” If I can have clarity around whether my workaday life is putting me a position to teach, coach, lead and compete, that’s much more valuable than any certainty I could ever achieve around those titles.
As odd as it seems, not being certain — not being able to be certain — can, if we’ll let it, be a source of power and peace. My friend “The Nickname Guy” says “Faith that knows where it’s going isn’t faith at all.”
In discerning our callings, let’s seek clarity, rather than trying to bite our own teeth.
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