My calling is the calling of martyrdom. I could feel it ever since I was a boy. My grandfather told me a story about a hero and his 40 brave companions that have been martyred in combat, against impossible odds, they kept on fighting.
I only want to die in such a glorious fashion and pray every day that I will be presented with such an opportunity of martyrdom, so that my life will have the greatest meaning that a life can have, the ultimate meaning, one that is found in death.

(January 29, 2014 at 11:28 pm)kılıç_mehmet Wrote: My calling is the calling of martyrdom. I could feel it ever since I was a boy. My grandfather told me a story about a hero and his 40 brave companions that have been martyred in combat, against impossible odds, they kept on fighting.
I only want to die in such a glorious fashion and pray every day that I will be presented with such an opportunity of martyrdom, so that my life will have the greatest meaning that a life can have, the ultimate meaning, one that is found in death.

Well, isn't that compelling? How are you going to carry out martyrdom? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question; I'm just not familiar with the martyr world, I guess.

(January 29, 2014 at 11:23 pm)rexbeccarox Wrote:

(January 29, 2014 at 11:18 pm)Chad32 Wrote: I put having a calling on the same level as the idea that there's that one special woman that's just for me, and if only I can find her, we'll marry and love each other until we die. A nice idealist thought that isn't likely to be true.

That's not what I'm talking about though. It's just an expression, a "calling". There are lots of people out there who have something or several things that they not only love to do, but must do, almost like an obsession, but healthier... well, as long as one's calling isn't to emulate Charles Manson or rob banks or something.

Video games and message boards take up a lot of my time, and I find myself bored if I don't have access to them. I guess that could be my calling, though it has left me fat. I'm just under 200 pounds, and according to some sources, I should be around 160 for my height of 5'9". I've been going to the gym for that.

My calling .. is to be open to little birds that are the secrets of living. They've led me to art, philosophy, sex, gardens, dogs and card games with the wife every night over dinner. They haven't steered me wrong yet. [Edit: Oh and here of course.]



“may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile”

― E.E. Cummings, Complete Poems, 1904-1962

I think my calling is, oddly, comedy. I know I'm not funny on this forum, but friends (who do not know each other) have said I should be a comedian. Or that a sitcom character modelled after me would be hilarious. My proudest experience in comedy would be when I wrote a skit in a foreign language that I'm only marginally competent in within half a day and had it performed within 3 days. Amazingly the audience laughed louder than expected at all the right parts and we got some bonus laughter that we weren't expecting (you know how sometimes things are funny but not LOL funny). Even had people come up to us after the show asking where the script came from. So yea ... I'm not a particularly funny person usually, I turn it on and off depending on my mood. It's not a focus of my life, but if I were to sit down and write a script, I know how to make it funny. But I'm too shy to do any of that, I think it's my calling because it comes naturally to me. But at the same time, the level of panic I go through before shows would mean I would die very young if I were to pursue such a career. So yup, sticking with science.

PBB, have you taken any public speaking classes? They immensely helped me get over stage fright. What a fun calling to have!

(January 29, 2014 at 11:30 pm)rexbeccarox Wrote:

(January 29, 2014 at 11:28 pm)kılıç_mehmet Wrote: My calling is the calling of martyrdom. I could feel it ever since I was a boy. My grandfather told me a story about a hero and his 40 brave companions that have been martyred in combat, against impossible odds, they kept on fighting.
I only want to die in such a glorious fashion and pray every day that I will be presented with such an opportunity of martyrdom, so that my life will have the greatest meaning that a life can have, the ultimate meaning, one that is found in death.

Well, isn't that compelling? How are you going to carry out martyrdom? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question; I'm just not familiar with the martyr world, I guess.

Well, its simple. You have to die. The exact circumstances, no one can know, perhaps it will be through glorious combat, execution, assasination, or meaningful alturistic or vengeful self sacrifice.
Only such deaths are befitting of a martyr.

A martyr lives forever in death, they live as something far greater than what they might have been in their life before death.
Even in death, they still serve a purpose, as a source of inspiration for generations to come.

I have an extensive list of things I'd like to do and I'm always trying to make advancements for myself everyday but so far I don't think I've necessary found my absolute calling. I have several goals but most of them I'm not even sure how to carry them out. Obviously the best way to handle my goals in life is to work to attain them for myself so I'm giving it my best shot. I just want to strive for a life of old age where I can look back on my life and even if I've failed, at least I can say that I stayed true to my goals and tried relentlessly to achieve them.

(January 29, 2014 at 11:41 pm)rexbeccarox Wrote: PBB, have you taken any public speaking classes? They immensely helped me get over stage fright. What a fun calling to have!

I don't think it's stage fright. I can perform without a hitch, it's just the hour before I go on, it's like death in my head. Class presentations are not that bad, they barely have an effect on me nowadays. I guess it's because I know I'm doing something I have zero training in and I'm extremely aware of how awkward it would be if no one laughed. In a presentation, you don't get evaluated as you're speaking. But in a comedy skit, every action you do you're trying to illicit a response from the audience, and if they don't respond they're basically telling you it's shit and it's not funny. I've never experienced that, but it really must be painfully awkward.

Wait, can I go again? I want to be a dancing storm trooper like these guys.

http://youtu.be/iyqfHvoUtkU