Good Tired = Vocation Fits

Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, has penned a good article on vocations titled "Ride the Current" for 100th Anniversary edition of America magazine.

I thought this was an especially wise observation:

When a vocation fits who we are, by living it we feel ourselves growing into a stronger, truer self, even though the going gets rough and at times we feel confused and tired. The kind of “tired” we feel is worth noting. It is not that heavy, sad fatigue we carry around like a low-grade fever, a form of depression. Life work demands genuine expenditure. We spend ourselves, maybe exhaust ourselves. But the energy flowing out of us feels natural, just the opposite of feeling pulled at by others, who have their own ideas about what we ought to be doing. When we let this happen, we feel resentful and cranky and sad.

A few years back, when I was running for office, I often found this to be the case. At the end of a day of campaigning, I was usually exhausted -- but often in a satisfying way.