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You
KNOW Your Life Mission is in your Heart
By
Jill Wellington
If a magic fairy had visited me as a young girl and told me I would
be a journalist when I grew up, I would have said, “No way!”
That was the last vocation I could ever imagine for myself. The evening
newscasts frightened me with their macabre scenes of violence and atrocities.
I would flip off the television if a story came on about abuse or crime.
I had an internal instinct of love and peace that didn't settle
with what I saw on the news.
 I
never knew I had writing talent even after I wrote a humorous little
story in the fourth grade titled “Jimmy and the Frog.” My
teacher had me read it to the class, and for a fleeting moment, I felt
I could write.
The feeling quickly melted away as I was overwhelmed with dyslexia,
often failing tests despite my understanding of the topic. History was
the worst. Those multiple choice tests still haunt me as I remember
the words scrambling in front of me. Yet if they had asked, I could
have written an eloquent essay about the topic. But nobody ever asked,
and I was still struggling my senior year of high school.
I clearly remember my government teacher calling me to his desk where
he held my failed test. Across the top he had scribbled, If you don't
pass the final exam, you will not be able to graduate.
I don't know where I got the courage that bleak moment, but I told
him I did not test well, and pleaded for him to let me do a project
instead. When this special teacher agreed, he had no idea he was about
to change my life forever. I knew at that instant I would get an A in
the class.
I poked around and learned our school had recently purchased new video
equipment for the library and the librarian was eager to help me create
a political campaign on tape. The ideas poured out of me, and I created
candidates, campaign platforms, interviews, and debates using my friends
as actors.
I will never forget my pounding heart as I turned out the lights in
the classroom and aired my masterpiece. As the lights went back on,
there was a hush over the room, then someone clapped. The room erupted
into applause and my twelve years of heart-wrenching academic failure
evaporated in that moment. I got my A, and the librarian asked if I
wanted to create an in-school newscast with the video equipment.
I was not a pretty sight on camera with my mouth full of metal braces.
Several times the rubber bands would shoot off and hit the camera lens.
But every time I went out to cover a school event, I could quickly assess
the situation, and the words would easily formulate into a creative,
and coherent story.
One day I was covering a wrestling tournament, a topic I knew nothing
about. Yet the story immediately clarified in my mind, and I had fun
highlighting some quirky wrestling moves. When I got back to the library
to view the tape and write the story, I said out loud, “I am good
at this!” I knew it in my heart, body, mind and very soul. I had
found my life mission.
I entered college that fall and still struggled with the classes. But
many teachers let me write papers in lieu of a test, and I squeaked
through history. In journalism classes, I hit my stride and when we
were assigned to provide one story a week for the campus radio news
show, I provided one every day. With ease, I gathered and wrote story
after story, knowing, “I'm good at this!”
I stuck with journalism even though my brother thought I was crazy.
That isn't practical,” he chanted. “How will you ever
get a job in that field?” Yet I knew he was wrong, and so was the
teacher who told me I had a bad voice for broadcasting. I went to the
speech department and hired a speech therapist. I knew I was good at
broadcast journalism.
Of course, the rest is history. Incredible coincidences or synchronicities
guided me through an eighteen year journalism career filled with fascinating
adventures, accolades and awards.
I have sobbed as I wrote this, revisiting old wounds. I tell this story
now for one reason only. So YOU will KNOW. When your heart awakens to
your life mission, YOU will KNOW. No situation or person can suppress
your true calling. You chose it before you were born, and you will discover
it within yourself when the timing is perfect.
Promise me, you will not let outward appearances or influences quash
your vibrant true self. Everyone has a life mission so important, the
world would not be as glittery without you. You know?
Jill
Wellington is an American journalist, who, along with her mother, has
co-authored Fireworks, a book that teaches the concept of synchronicity.
Contact her at jill@stargatepress.com.
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Taylor Medical Group
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Calling