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The
following excerpt is from my new book The
Politics of Hope: Reviving the Dream of Democracy.
Please
pass this newsletter on to others you believe would be interested
in this "Guide to Political Renewal for our Times."
Is
Your Desire to Serve a Calling or a Craving?
In
public life, there is a thin line between the calling to serve and
the craving to serve. Some of my clients report such a strong need
to serve that it becomes a "craving," a kissing cousin
to addiction. Those of us dedicated to public service sometimes
confuse our desire to serve with a belief that we are "supposed"
to serve. Our offering of service is then a craving rather than
a calling.
A
calling is a desire to give. A craving is a desire to get. A
calling is our opportunity to share our unique contributions and
blessings with others. A craving is a fear that there is "not
enough," a hole that we must fill. A calling arises naturally
from our sense of completeness. A craving is a need to get because
we are incomplete. A calling is a conscious awareness of our wholeness,
spurring us to acts of spontaneous generosity. We know that by responding
to our personal calling, by sharing our gifts in full, we encourage
others to reveal their own greatness. Conversely, a craving is a
nagging sense of lack, an unconscious reaction to an imagined deficit
that demands to be overcome.
If
we as public servants live with a craving to serve, we are in the
grip many of the destructive byproducts of addiction may arise in
us: fear, manipulation, control, anger, jealousy and excessive pride
- the hallmarks of self-defeating behavior. Housing such toxic emotions,
we become unable to listen to others. Our political approach turns
mean-spirited as gradually our cravings begin to run our lives for
us. We may become so delusional that we believe we are "destined
to serve," that Someone on high has anointed our time in office.
Our grandiosity grows, and we move into a full, self-centered power
grab.
The
seductive nature of public life, whether in the corporate world
or in the arenas of sports and entertainment, may feed our cravings
by hobnobbing with the rich and powerful. Hovering lobbyists, persons
of privilege bidding for our attention, adoring staff, as well as
plenty of alcohol and other drugs, all combine to make the public
leader's life fertile ground for cravings and addictions. Even healthy
people, who enter public life with their cravings under control,
often find that its pressures and temptations tend to magnify their
cravings, sometimes even igniting full-blown addictions.
As
the cycle of need unfolds, we work desperately to retain our power
position, doing whatever it takes to ensure our re-election. Before
we know it, we're living an unconscious, mostly unfulfilling life
grounded in selfish desires rather than higher motives.
When
we are called to service we become aware of our passions
and our actions unfold with ease and joy. Colossal tasks become
simple. We glow with excitement that attracts others to join our
vision. By relinquishing attachments that feed our cravings we surrender
to higher motives - therein lies the true satisfaction of living
our calling!
Callings, by Gregg Levoy
This is the first book to examine the many kinds of calls we receive
and the great variety of channels through which they come to us.
A calling may be to do something (change careers, go back to school,
have a child) or to be something (more creative, less judgmental,
more loving). Drawing on the hard-won wisdom and powerful stories
of people who have followed their own calls, Gregg Levoy shows us
the many ways to translate a calling into action. Callings is a
compassionate guide to discovering your own callings and negotiating
the tight passages to personal power and authenticity.
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