Following the Path The Search for a Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy

This book is meant to give someone in the process of making a life decision at any age-in early adulthood, at the point of middle-age change and later, when we find ourselves at the crossroads without a name-some ideas against which to pit their own minds, their own circumstances. Its purpose, as they wrestle with the process of trying to find and follow their own special call at this new stage of life, is to both provoke thinking and to clarify it.-Joan Chittister In our modern and mobile society, the range of answers to the questions "What am I supposed to do with my life?" and "How do I know when I've found my purpose?" can seem endless and overwhelming. Following the Pathby Sister Joan brings the insights of her years of teaching and contemplation to bear on this issue, providing readers with a new way forward. Through her examination of spiritual calling and gifts, change and discernment, she leads readers home to the place where, finally, we know we fit, where we are the fullest of ourselves and a gift to the world, a timely and much needed message that many will be happy to hear.

JOAN CHITTISTER is an internationally known author and lecturer, and the executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality. She serves as cochair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the UN, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders. Her books include The Gift of Years, The Monastery of the Heart, and Uncommon Gratitude (with the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams). She is past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and was prioress of her community, the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania, for twelve years.

Table of Contents
 
 
Acknowledgements
Finding the way home to myself
1. The search for happiness and meaning in life
2. What does enjoyment have to do with happiness?
3. What does it mean to become the fullness of ourselves?
4. Whose call is it?
5. Learning to hear the call
6. What does it mean “to have a purpose”?
7. Purpose and passion: the essence of call
8. Why does it take so long to find out who I am?
9. What is a gift?
10. Why follow the gifts?
11. What does it mean to have a call?
12. The first call: an invitation to adulthood
13. The second call
14. The third call
15. Is everything we’d like to do really a call?
16. How do I know if I have a call?
17. How do I know I’m doing what I’m meant to do?
18. What does a sense of call have to do with the spiritual life?
19. Should I try various things before deciding what to do?
20. Is it possible to have more than one call?
21. Is it ever too late to start over?
22. Where is God in all of this?