Becoming Who I Am

I very much agree with Palmer that vocation is more about understanding who we are than what we should become or think we should become. When I was younger I used to associate "vocation" with what I would be when I grew up, because that was what I considered a calling. I used to think of vocations like "teacher," "police officer," or "doctor." While those are literal vocations, I definitely agree with Palmer that the truest vocation is self-discovery. I now understand that in order to find my more title-oriented or professional vocation, I must first fulfill the vocation of completely and totally figuring out who I am.

Over the past year or so, I have begun to think like Palmer. In this past year, I think I've done more soul searching and self-reflection than ever before. This has led me to become more relaxed and at peace. I know my priorities am very content with my life. In this period of self-discovery, I've tried to balance school with being social and spending time with my family. For many years I would get so caught up in getting perfect scores because perfect scores meant a great high school, and perfect scores in high school meant a great college, and a great college was the only way to a great future. However, now I realize that there is so much more to a successful life than grades. The key to a successful life is being who I am, surrounding myself with people who accept me for that, and achieving goals that I set for myself, not that society sets for me. Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree with Palmer that everyone's common vocation is finding who we are. If everyone could see that, I think that the world we live in would be much happier and more successful.