When I was in the 5th grade, my father quit a lucrative practice in orthopedic surgery to work full time at a neighborhood clinic for free. Then he left the clinic to work full time at our church, again for free. At the time he had six kids and eventually a seventh on the way. His parents and his sister thought he and my mom were crazy but my parents looked at it differently. He worked for three years at the church before eventually going back to being a surgeon.
My father tells the story that in the very same month when he quit making a doctor’s salary, unexpected money from his family land started rolling in that replaced his physician’s income. At the time he states that he had some “worthless” land in the back woods of Florida that his grandfather had bought many years before. There was some oil beneath the land but it was too expensive to extract so nothing happened. This was during the oil crises in the 1970’s, and when the price of oil went up, the money started coming in from the oil rights on the land which replaced my father’s salary. When my father went back to being a doctor, the money and the oil literally dried up and stopped flowing on the very same month that his doctor’s income started again. True story.
My parents report that at the time they both believed they had a higher calling to follow and that a way to fulfill this call would be provided. My father was also determined and was relentlessly focused in his drive to achieve any goal he set his mind to. He worked hard and never quit and paid attention to the opportunities when they presented themselves.
There are a few principles in this story that are worth mentioning, because they demonstrate principles that can work in your life.
1. Be true to your inner knowing. Your intuition can guide you. Your higher calling and your purpose in life is waiting for you. Be true to yourself and like my father said, “I will all work out. It always does.”
2. Stay focused and never let your belief in yourself and your dreams waver. There is a power in your belief and in your focused attention and dedication to a goal over time, especially when you have done your best to align yourself with your highest good. In the moment when my Dad didn’t know how to continue, the way opened, but he stayed focused and kept on working towards his goal until he found the way. God helps those who help themselves. If you feel stuck in some situation, then that just means that the process isn’t done and God isn’t finished with this just yet.
3. Be willing to work your tail off to make it happen. Things always worked out for my Dad because he persistently worked until he achieved his goals. He always believed in his dreams and he never gave up. There’s no accident there.
Don’t give up on your dreams, whatever they are. Whatever calling you have within you is there for a reason, and your dreams are worth whatever time or energy you devote to making them a reality. Furthermore, the world needs what you have to offer, so what are you waiting for? Thank you, Dad for constantly being a model for me and for showing me the way to follow my dreams.
