What paths have you walked away from?
On following our calling
Sometimes I wonder if I could live a different life. Like that of a famous person, or of a simple villager. In these moments, my life feels somewhat strange and otherworldly. How did I end up here, on a motorcycle driving through the rice fields of a precious island in Indonesia? I know this didnโt happen randomly.
๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, every step of the way.
And ๐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด.
It feels funny saying this. What about all the other choices I could have taken?
I did my first internship at 13 years old as the apprentice of a hotel manager. I probably could have become a wealthy hotelier.
I was a professional dancer and choreographer at age 16. I could have become a sought-after artist.
I was a venture partner at a new venture capital studio that failed, but set me up for a career in finance.
But I didn't choose to continue walking on any of these paths. โ
Instead, I followed the deep call to help โ to see ourselves in a new light and, therefore, to ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ป.
Itโs a big task for me, one without a blueprint, where good enough is not good enough. At times, I feel lost and alone, but I wouldn't choose any other way.
Some years ago, I said that ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.
I still know this to be true.
Iโm grateful and respectful toward this commitment, and take every step to honour it.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ?
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด?