You are a hero. I am a hero. We are all, every single one of us, on what Joseph Campbell calls “a hero’s journey”. We all have within us a Nelson Mandela or Joan of Arc or Luke Skywalker or Mother Teresa or Harry Potter. Like all of these classic heroes, we are all little sparks of divinity on a mission to step into our true nature and fulfill the Divine assignment our souls were sent here to earth in order to fulfill.
Who Will Save the World?
But if you’re like most of us, you may not realize yet what a hero you really are. Most of us feel a sense of mission involving a major transformation in human experience, a strong sense that (whatever that mission is) it’s getting closer in time, a compulsion to master certain skills in preparation for this half-understood personal mission, high levels of empathy, an urgent desire to lessen the suffering for humans, animals and plants, and a loneliness stemming from a sense of difference, despite being generally social.
The Dysfunction of the “Ordinary World”
We only discover we are heroes when we get disillusioned enough with the dysfunction of our present circumstances. When we feel sad enough and lost enough and hopeless enough, something deep within us has the opportunity to emerge, something stronger and wiser than we may ever have known existed within us. We all have this heroic spark that never dies, even when we’re in our darkest moments. I call this part of you your “Inner Pilot Light,” which is your inner superhero. This spark within you is fueled by a pressing sense that there is adventure out there, that your life has purpose, that you’re on a quest you may not understand yet, that your small little existence on this very big planet could mean something, that there is more to life than the ordinary, dysfunctional world, and that perhaps all it takes is a cape and a mask and some really cool boots in order to save the world.
The Phone Rings
Right when you might start to question your inner superhero and feel tempted to lose hope that your little blip of existence in this great, big world could really make a world-changing difference, you’re likely to hear the phone ring. It usually rings very softly at first, perhaps so softly that, like your cell phone with the ringer off, you miss it altogether. But when you fail to pick up, the phone is likely to ring louder. Some Divine force turns the ringer on.
When this happens, this is your calling ringing you, just like that, with a loud RING that you can’t help noticing. It’s your life’s purpose calling, complete with instructions not just for how you can change the world in your own precious way, but with the Prescription for how you can lead a wholly healthy life that will prepare you to fulfill this calling.
The Refusal of the Call
Because heroes are inherently curious, you won’t be able to resist picking up the jangling phone, yet when you hear what you’re meant to do on your hero’s journey, if you’re like the rest of us, you’re likely to respond with a rousing, “HELL NO.” What you are being called to do is too scary. The dangers are too risky. Your comfort zone is too secure. Fear wracks you. There are so many really, really good reasons to hang up the phone and refuse the call. Nobody would blame you. You’re only human. It would be natural to turn your back on something so terrifying. Yet no matter how much you pretend you’re not available for that last minute Friday night date with destiny, I guarantee you that, when it’s your true calling, the call will keep pestering you.
The Universe will conspire to encourage you to heed the call, even if it means thwacking you upside the head with the proverbial two by four. When you ignore the call, you may get sick. Your relationships may fall apart. You might find yourself in financial ruin. You may experience a loss so painful you’ll think you won’t be able to keep living. But you will. Because you’re on a hero’s journey. And the hero must prevail.
You Finally Say Yes
However your calling shows up, you are likely to be humbled into submission until you finally, reluctantly, answer the call. The call simply won’t go away. You will finally surrender because The Universe won’t give up on you. Never. Not when the stakes are this high. Not when there’s a world to make better because you are here on a mission.
Finally, you either muster up the moxy to rally to the task, picking up the phone with a smile, or you get so worn down by the incessant ringing that you pick up with a sigh and a roll of the eyes. Nobody’s going to give you an A for a cheerful attitude. The mission you’re on is pass/fail. Will you answer the call? Or will you not?
Because you are a hero, you will finally agree to your task. Because you must. And when The Universe says, “I have a Divine assignment for you,” you will finally say, with a humble, trembling voice, “Okay Universe. I’m in.”
The world is in crisis. Our health care system, education system, and political systems are dismantling. We are at war with ourselves as a species, not just externally, but internally. The time to save the world is now.
We need you. Are you ready to answer your call?
Author: Lissa Ranking MD / Wake up World