Foreword by Richard Bolles

This book, Something to Live For, begins a new conversation between its authors and their readers. But Richard Leider and I have talked about this subject for literally decades. All that has changed over the years has been the jargon; the essence has always remained the same: Something to Live For. A Life with Purpose. Your Mission in Life. Finding Your Vocation.

I like any work that sets all of this in the context of faith. I am a believer in God, a lover even, and I make no bones about it.

I am also a storyteller. Some of my stories are true. Some of my stories may be true. Here is one such story: I like to think that our souls existed before our bodies. And that, before we came to Earth to inhabit this body, our souls, our breath, our light, stood before the great Creator of the Universe, and volunteered for this Mission. God and we together then decided what that Mission should be, and what particular gifts would be needed in order to accomplish that mission. Which God agreed to give us at birth. And so, our Mission was not a command given peremptorily by an unloving Creator to a slave without a vote, but was a task jointly designed by Creator and Creature—us —in which as fast as our Great Creator said, “I wish,” our hearts swelled up with “Oh, yes!”

But when we were born we became amnesiac about anything that transpired before our birth; and therefore amnesiac about the nature of our Mission and our Gifts. Therefore our search now for something to live for, for a life with Purpose, for our Vocation, for a Mission in life, is the search for a memory.

God, knowing we would be amnesiac, thoughtfully provided us two gifts, not one. First of all, as I have said, God gave us each an abundance of gifts, including the gifts we needed for our mission. Secondly, God gave us a clue as to the latter, by giving us a special love for those particular gifts. To put it simply, if there is something you love to do, that probably is one of the gifts you need for your Mission. Put them all together, all the gifts you love, and you may see clearly an outline, like all the pieces in a patchwork quilt, of what your Mission is, and what you have to live for.

To change the metaphor, the gifts that God gave you a great love for, are like pearls which you are to string on a necklace. You can arrange them in any order on your necklace, but the most important pearl should lie in the center of the necklace. And, over your lifetime, which one you select to be the most important pearl may change as you change. And so, the necklace changes. Thus, your Mission may not always stay the same on the surface; just the same, underneath.

One of the contributions that vocational psychologists—Donald Super, Sidney Fine, John Crites, John L. Holland—have made over the years, is to show us how our vocations may seem to change, as we move through life, yet in truth remain the same. In Holland’s discoveries, for example, the same three skills are needed for a vocation as psychologist, dental hygienist, clergy, nurse, copywriter, dance therapist, painter, or artist. It all depends on which skill you put in the center of your necklace, which skills you put on either side, etc., etc. That is to say, which skill God gave you the greatest love for, and so forth, on down.

To change the metaphor again, the gifts God gave you for your chosen Mission, the gifts God gave you a great love for, are like a set of building blocks that you can arrange in any way and in any order you choose.

Your uniqueness is found in the way you put your gifts together. You may have the very same gifts as someone else, but each of you will stack them in different ways and that means an entirely different work.

Your life and career changes are just a matter of rearranging the building blocks.

I believe this book you hold in your hands can help you do two things. First, it can help you recall that ancient conversation we have all had with our Creator, enabling you to recall your life’s mission and the gifts you’ve been given to complete it. And second, it can help you rearrange your gifts for the part of that mission you’ll be working on in the next phase of your life.

Meanwhile, the conversation that Richard Leider and I began decades ago continues.