An Early Passion
My youngest came home from Pre-K the other day with a packet of papers.
“Look, Dad!” he said. “My work!”
With a flourish he showed several sheets with brightly colored cars he had stenciled with fruit-smelling markers at school. He had written Hot Wheels in his newly-learned huge lettering. While I loved his work, it was his passion for the work itself that inspired me. He spread the papers out on the kitchen table where we admired them for a few days.
We’ve long realized the boy loves cars and everything to do with them. We don’t know what he’ll be when he grows up, but I won’t be at all surprised if it has something do with the automotive industry. His Pre-K teacher has acknowledged this too, providing him with books and projects—like his recent work—that stimulate his early passion for cars.
What we love about all of it is that he’s found what makes him happy. Sure, this may just be a phase—he’ll likely move on to another thing all together—but to see the inchoate version a calling is what fills us up. My older son, on the other hand, does not have that one thing yet, and that’s okay.
It takes men a long time or no time at all to figure out what it is they are striving for. We might identify it early in life, perhaps like my youngest, or we might have to explore and take up multiple missions before we know which one is for us. It’s all about that calling. Half the challenge is listening carefully for the call. The other half is answering it.
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Photo courtesy of the Author