Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we often talk about resilience, an important ability that helps us find healing after trauma, handle stress well, and thrive, even in the face of adversity.
There are five different building blocks of this important ability:
- Mental health: Conforming your mind to the truth
- Physical health: Having good friendships and taking care of your body
- Spiritual health: Consistent prayer and reception of the sacraments
- Virtue: Striving to live virtuously and to uproot vices
- Vocation: Striving to live out your state-in-life vocation, career, and other endeavors the Lord may call you to
When we consistently engage in activities that build these five areas, we grow in resilience.
An important thing to know about these five building blocks is that they do not exist independently. Each building block affects the others, so a weakness in one can bring down the others and undermine our resilience.
In previous articles, we’ve discussed how mental, physical, and spiritual health and virtue affect the other building blocks of resilience. Today, we’ll discuss how vocation impacts the other building blocks.
How Vocation Impacts Mental Health
The impacts of vocation on mental health are best illustrated by what happens to our mental health when our vocations are struggling.
When we are in a job we hate, are in a period of forced unemployment, are struggling in our state-in-life vocation, or are not strongly invested in our callings from God, our mental health usually deteriorates.
We struggle with our identity. We may develop false views of ourselves, others, the world, or God. We may even be wounded by these struggles, leading us to believe lies.
In contrast, when we invest deeply in our vocations, we have a better understanding of the truth and our identity because we are doing what God created us for.
How Vocation Impacts Physical Health
Just like with mental health, the impacts of vocation on physical health are best illustrated by what happens to our physical health when our vocations are struggling.
Difficulties in our vocation can cause extreme stress, negatively impacting our health. They may take up mental bandwidth, draining our ability to choose to exercise, eat well, and sleep. Stress may also significantly impair our ability to sleep well.
Additionally, difficulties in our vocation can negatively impact our ability to relate well with others. By taking up mental bandwidth, these difficulties may lead us not to prioritize our virtuous friendships.
How Vocation Impacts Spiritual Health
When we live out God’s call in our lives, it’s much easier to relate to Him because we’re not blocking His grace by going against His will, and we can see Him at work in our lives.
When we do not seek to live out God’s calling for our lives, this, conversely, can block our relationship with God. The stress of vocational difficulties can also take up mental bandwidth, making it difficult to choose to prioritize prayer.
How Vocation Impacts Virtue
Our vocations are schools of virtue. When we choose to work towards career goals and learn to die to ourselves in our state-in-life vocations, we become more humble, generous, persevering, faithful, and more. Living out God’s call for our lives leads us to act more and more like Him.
Conclusion
When we strive to live out and invest in God’s will for our lives, we raise the other building blocks of resilience and, overall, become more resilient.
I encourage you to learn more about the connections between vocation and resilience, and how you can better invest in this building block. You can learn more here.