If you find yourself in a survival job that seems to have nothing to do with your gifts, nothing to do with who you really are, consider this.
The more crazily out-of-whack your job is, the more likely it is that you are there by design. You may be learning a single invaluable skill that will help you bridge into your true work, or you may be repeatedly “drafted” by circumstance to perform functions that are not part of your job description, but which are aligned with your true calling.
I once labored in vain to master a book-keeping system in a medical office. I had a terrible time because math is not my strongest skill. That job was fairly short-lived, and there was very little about it that I liked or appreciated. Years later, though, I was hired to tutor a group of women who wanted to work in healthcare offices. These women had little education, little confidence, and were doubtful of completing their training. I was brought in because of some counseling skills as well as my background in a medical office. Those 18 women, (some of whom were dealing with domestic violence at home) all graduated successfully and wept with joy and disbelief that they made it through their training. I realized then, that my struggles with the book-keeping job had nothing to do with book-keeping, and instead had occurred simply so that I might, years later, help those 18 women.
Many people who are now doing work they love will tell you that part of what made it possible were the “off road” activities that they learned during years of survival jobs. The newsletter they were suckered into editing, the new employees they were forced to train because no one else could be bothered, the negotiations between different personality types they performed just to keep the peace, the events they planned, the research they performed: all little things they “fell” into or were dragged into, during which they discovered their true gifts.
One woman worked in a quirky gift store that also sold exotic foods. She began catering on the side; the catering got “out of hand” and she began to cook for restaurants, and then opened her own little place. She is now an extremely wealthy and successful woman, who owns three well-known restaurants, doing what she loves. It all started when she was a clerk in that funky store, doing “extra things.”
Wherever you are, your talents are there too. Life is a conspiracy all right: a conspiracy of love and giftedness. We can throw our good away in a bad-tempered huff, or we can let it come through us and out to others, even if we feel we aren’t in “the right job.” People will respond to your gifts if you tinker around with them and help where you can. Many people feel they are on the wrong track because they are working in a bill-paying job and not following their passion. But your passion is following you! Take on the extra work, do the newsletter, spruce up the website, cater the party, help the new guy. The Universe has seeded your environment with threads that lead right into your destiny, regardless of where you are or how much you have been resenting it.
Follow the destiny threads, try to love your job, love your opportunities. Have faith that it is all happening for a reason and keep moving toward your passion, because without question, it is moving through you.