4 Ways to know who you were "meant to be"

My friends became priests last weekend. And it was awesome. 

Literally. The best 5-day celebration of my life. To witness these young men heroically lay down their entire life for something that they would die for was an incredible experience. Actually, to see them lay down their life for something that I hope to have the courage to die for too could have been what made it so amazing. Either way, it gave me hope. It really made me think too. What is my calling in life?  What am I meant to lay down my life for? I realized that when you find your calling in life and you commit to it, you become fully alive. You become fully you. When you find out who you were "meant to be", you have the potential to change the world. I really think that these two men are going to do just that.

St. Catherine of Siena once said,

"If you are who you were meant to be, you will set the world on fire." 

Fr. Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Fr. Anthony Cusack and I before eating a whole lot of lobster on the beach.

Four ways to know who you were "meant to  be."

1. You know who you were meant to be when you know who you are.

Stop looking at other people's lives to figure out your own. The moment you let go of other people's expectations you'll find out who you really are. #youdoyou. If you don't know who you are, pray this "I AM will tell me who I am." (Who is "I am"? He created you. Exodus 3:14) He created you, and He totally knows who you are. Find who you are and you'll find who you're meant to be.

2. You know who you were meant to be when you know who you're not. 

If you really can't stop trying to be like other people (I get it, we all have an image to keep up), then go ahead and just embrace being someone else for a while.  This is the route most of us take first. But soon enough, it's going to catch up with you, you're going to be miserable and you're going to realize that its just not worth it to live up to others expectations. Find out who you're not, don't be that person,  and then you'll find who you're meant to be.

3. You know who you were meant to be when you know who or what you love the most.

Who would you die for? What would you die for? You were meant for whoever or whatever that is. If you feel like you would die for anyone, maybe your calling is something greater than the small family you've always imagined.  Maybe its not. Some would die for a person. Other might die for a mission. If you wouldn't die for any one or anything than you're just floating through life (Revelation 3:16). Find that passion and you'll find who you're meant to be.

4. You know who you were meant to be when you know what makes you most alive. 

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Not what wakes you up, but what motivates you to remove yourself from your comfort zone? More importantly, what keeps you up during the day and late into the night? What do you sacrifice sleep for, yet continue to feel energized by? Find what makes you alive and you'll find who you're meant to be.  (John 10:10)

If none of this works just set a chair on fire...that usually helps me.