Real success comes from helping others in a real way

About a year ago, when we were out for a walk, we came across a family working in a woodsy area down the street.  As we stopped and talked to them, we learned that they had just purchased the acreage.  The couple, along with their kids, was in the throes of excitement over their new acquisition and had begun clearing out a small patch of the land.

They explained that they owned a house nearby, which they were going to sell, and planned to build on this new property.  I felt so excited for this young family with big dreams and hope for their future.  

Over the past year, I never saw them again.  The area they cleared is now beginning to be covered with some overgrowth, and instead of a house, real estate signs have gone up.

Call me strange, but it makes me sad.  Were they unable to sell their house?  Did they get divorced?  Was it too expensive for them to build?

I don’t suppose I will ever know what happened, but I do know that their dream never materialized, for whatever reason, and it makes me sad to think that it has been dashed.  Somehow, it feels like a light went out for this family.

We all have dreams, or at least we should, because dreams give us hope for the future.  In fact, I myself always fantasized about building a house in the middle of the woods on property not very far from where the young family was building.  

As I imagined it, I would go out and sit on my deck and write and contemplate until my brain turned to mush (I chose to ignore the fact that the mosquitoes would drive me inside.)

And I guess the thing is, I knew it wouldn’t ever happen, and I was fine with that; it was just fun to imagine. 

I do think dreams propel us forward, though, and keep us from stagnating.  But, we must also be ready for the unexpected.  Clearly something happened in that family that changed the course of their direction.  

Anyway, I think it is important that whatever our goals are, whatever our dreams are, it is best if they are grounded in our faith, prompted by a desire to live out our vocation.  It is in living out our vocation that we find the most joy in life, even if it does not necessarily bring us the greatest ease.

I don’t suppose vocation is an idea that holds much meaning in our secular culture, but we do all have a vocation of some sort.  We have gifts that God has given us, and he expects us to use those to serve each other.  When we do, there is the high likelihood that we will have found our vocation.

Of course, figuring out our vocation may sometimes be a challenge, but if we are diligent and ask our heavenly Father, he will show us the way.

I have always felt that purposeful work is the most satisfactory.  There is something inside us that finds happiness in doing good.  Our acts can be big or small, it doesn’t matter, but if our work makes us feel like we are making a difference, helping someone in some way, that is key.

Very soon, many of our young people will be heading off to college, striving to find their path in life.  I hope they will think about their future in terms of their vocation, and seek that.

I know that money, position and power can often be held up as primary motivators for choosing a career, and after spending thousands of dollars on college tuition, going for a job that will offset that bill seems most reasonable, but such a job also has the potential to create a lifelong sense of vacuity and anxiety.

It is a great temptation to see success in terms of dollars and cents, but such success can come at a real price.  Even parents guiding their young adults can get off-track at times and lose sight of the value of teaching them to pray about their vocation and the need to patiently wait as it unfolds. 

If we can learn anything from the family down the road, perhaps it is that just because you begin something, it doesn’t mean that you can’t change directions, and that leaving one path behind and turning down another is not necessarily a sad thing.  

I hope for them that this is the case, and rather than the sale of their land being an indication of a lost dream, like I supposed, perhaps being relieved of it will free them to pursue a new direction for their family.  Maybe they will even discover a family vocation.  

I can hope, can’t I?
(The Catholic Times, August 16-22, 2014)