Let Your Life Speak

Have you ever been admonished? I sure have.

An admonition is a scolding. A signal that you're bumping up against expectations.

But an older meaning of admonition is to exhort—to strongly urge to a duty.

A good admonition reminds us that we've forgotten something important and true. A great admonition gives us no choice but to heed its call.

One of my favorite admonitions is the Quaker exhortation, "Let your life speak." It's a reminder to let your highest truths and values guide everything you do.

In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker J. Palmer reframes the Quaker idea as a call to vocation—a journey of self-discovery through service. An invitation to live your legacy and climb the second mountain.

For most of us, if we heed the call at all, the urge to ascend the second mountain of vocation (a journey of sacrifice and soul) comes well after we've spent significant time scrambling up the first mountain of occupation (a pursuit of status and stuff).

Which mountain are you on? Are you letting your life speak? Does what you do align with who you truly are? With what you're actually good at? And where you really belong? 

Heeding vocation's call is a daunting task, especially since we don't talk about values or vocation at school or on the job.

What to do?

If you're going to seek and scale the second mountain, you'll probably need a trusted guide and fellow travelers. Taking a DIY approach to second mountaineering makes an already fraught endeavor more so. Traveling in community ensures, at the very least, that the trek will be easier and more enjoyable.

Are you ready to let your life speak and live your legacy?

Here's a final admonition—don't die with the difference only you can make still inside.

Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. 

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