Of Significance or not?

 

I  am reading an e-book entitled "Stuck in Halftime" by Bob Buford. He has an earlier book "Half Time: Moving from Success to Significance" which helps people find a more meaningful vocation or career for the next half of their life. This later book is meant to assist people who find themselves stuck while transitioning. The book points out certain myths and barriers that sometimes cause people to give up or revert back to their comfort zone of their original career. 

I can relate to one of the myths which he terms "The Low Commitment Myth". He calls people who live by this myth "dabblers", dabbling here and there. This is how he describes them: " They say, ' I'll sit on a few boards. Do a mission trip with my church. Volunteer occasionally to help out a local nonprofit.' They see charity as another form of recreation, not as work. And this is socially sanctioned dabbling. People say, 'That's so nice, what you are doing.They dip in and out. Mainly these people keep themselves free for pleasure trips."

Buford advocates " Having a clear and singular mission statement revolving around the "one thing" about which you are most passionate is what is needed". 

I probably fit into the type of people who embrace the Low Commitment Myth. I do occasionally feel I have not done much after leaving my finance career. Unlike the tombstones that showcase the projects achieved during my earlier career, my work/vocation as a school counsellor, story teller, sandplay therapist leave no concrete proof of efficacy not to mention 'significance'. At times like these, I ponder over whether I should embark on just one thing that would be more impactful. 

Most of the time however, I would be asking 'what is wrong in being a dabbler?', balancing charity work and leisure. Just as my earlier career was not a roaring success, neither does my charity work have to be of huge significance. Admittedly I am a mediocre by nature. The consequence of this so called Low Commitment Myth is the occasional existential despair and the hollow feeling of lacking in purpose. 

When in such despair, however, I will recall appreciating this graffiti when visiting the Berlin Wall.