I came across a video today in which Louise Hay, best-selling author and founder of Hay House, spoke about about her experiences, journey in life and publishing path.

If you’re willing to change your thinking, you can change your life. She’d heard this before, but it finally resonated with her. “That little penny dropping was a big deal,” she said. Yes, a big deal, indeed.

It’s funny when you hear things over and over in life, then one day you hear them in a new light. It’s as though the words have new meaning, or perhaps more appropriately, they’re suddenly relevant to your job, your marriage, your world, your calling.

Calling. It’s a funny word, isn’t it? I picture a phone ringing, with someone from another world speaking one word into it:

“Parent.”

“Teach.”

“Wife.”

“Travel.”

“Husband.”

“Write.”

We all have a calling, whether or not we realize it. On the surface, some callings may seem more grandiose, more worthy of the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean those in our life are less affected by our efforts. They just need to be efforts that count, and the effect on others needs to be positive.

“You’re crazy — you’ll never sell this thing.” That’s what someone told Louise when she printed 5,000 copies of her first “book” — a book she wasn’t aware she was even writing at the time. A list she was working on just ended up turning into something more — something that it was supposed to be…destined to be. And therein was her calling.

Callings aren’t always accepted by the masses. Some may mock, words may not always be kind. Support won’t always flow freely, and the questions may be endless. But a calling is a calling is a calling, so long as our ears are always listening for it.

“Two years later, I sold the last of the 5,000.”

You’ll achieve what others thought to be impossible when your calling is given room to grow, mature and when it’s given the time and dedication necessary to be more than just a hobby, more than just a time-filler. By virtue of the word itself, your calling allows you to call others into your world — whether it’s a world filled by the written word, or a world filled with patient lessons taught lovingly to children; a world of gently winding roads you’ve found as a reward for heeding the call to travel, or a world where little eyes are illuminated with understanding as you educate, becoming one with a piece of chalk and a blackboard.

“When life calls us, that’s when we have to answer.” She said that people would ask her how she managed to do everything she did. Her answer? She answered the telephone, opened the mail and did what was in front of her. And then life would give her something else to do, and then something else. As my mom would say, she put one foot in front of the other, and she repeated. Hourly. Daily. Yearly.

“You never know where life is going to take your work.” So very true. And how very exciting.

Today I am thankful for coming across the video where Louise Hay’s words not only rang true, but inspired a new level of dedication within.