I’m often asked the question:
“Why do you bother? Nobody’s interested. No-one cares. It won’t make any difference.”
When I say I’m often asked this question, what I mean is there’s a nagging voice at the back of my mind, called self-doubt, who loves to ask questions like this.
Self-doubt paid me a visit the other day and for once I didn’t flinch. I simply listened to its concerns and gave the following response:
“You might be right. Maybe nobody is interested. Perhaps no-one cares. Who knows if it will make any difference to anything?
“But I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing and writing about what matters to me for one very simple reason: it’s my calling.”
When you feel called to do something, you do it. No questions asked.
No ifs, no buts, no asking “how will it all work out” or “is it even worth bothering?”
You just do it, because it’s the only thing in your life that truly makes sense and feels right.
In 1970, singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson released a song entitled To Beat The Devil. The song is about a singer who goes into a bar and encounters the devil, who tells him not to bother wasting his time singing his songs to people who don’t care about what he is saying.
In the chorus of the song, the devil says to him:
If you waste your time a-talkin'
To the people who don't listen
To the things that you are sayin'
Who do you think's gonna hear?
And if you should die explainin' how
The things that they complain about
Are things they could be changin'
Who do you think's gonna care?
There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind
Who were crucified for what they tried to show
And their voices have been scattered by the swirlin' winds of time
'Cause the truth remains that no one wants to know
The singer is not taken in by the devil’s words, because he has heard them all before. In the final verse of the song, the singer says:
I ain't sayin' I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing
Then I stole his song
He not only steals the devil’s song, but he changes the words to match his own truth. In the final chorus he responds to the devil’s pessimism by saying:
I was born a lonely singer and I'm bound to die the same
But I've gotta feed the hunger in my soul
And if I never have a nickel, I won't ever die ashamed
'Cause I don't believe that no one wants to know
And that’s something I can relate to.
When you have a calling, you feel a hunger in your soul that needs to be fed.
And when it seems like something is trying to work against you, instead of resisting it, you can take its energy and put it to good use.
Thank you for sharing Robert. I can resonate especially since being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, as it unexpectedly led me closer to my true calling. The notion of pursuing our calling without reservation is a powerful reminder that some things in life transcend validation or external approval. Kris Kristofferson song is a also a great reminder that when you feel called to do something, you do it regardless of self-doubt or what others think, because of the fulfilment that comes from staying true to one’s path.