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What's going on guys? I'm Thomas Carney and this is Pursuit of Calling Podcast. If you

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like this podcast, you can share it out on all your social media platforms and give this

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podcast a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcast. This episode is called Trials,

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Endurance, Character, Hope, aka Growing Pains. So if you're going through trials or you've

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gone through trial in the past and you don't really understand, you don't know why you

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went through it. You just know it happened and you don't, you never really understood

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that you had a purpose for it. This episode really is for you.

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What's going on guys? Thanks for sitting down with me for this episode of the podcast. I

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wanted to ask a question real quick actually. So I think I might have asked this in the

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last episode. Cole asked, or he asked if we had like the community of the Pursuit of Calling

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Podcast had a name for the listeners. And like, I want to know if you guys, what you

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guys thought. He asked if you guys would be called the Pursuers. And I actually kind of

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like it to be honest. Like what do you guys think about being called Pursuers? Like if

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I were to say like, whenever I'm talking to you guys and ask you like, Hey, how's it going

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Pursuers or something like that? What would you think about that? Let me know in the comments.

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I don't know. Is this something, something I'm thinking about? So today's episode, as

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you might already see, is called Trials, Endurance, Character, Hope, Growing Pains. And you might

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already kind of get where I'm getting this information from, what this is derived and

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based off of. And I did kind of something, you might see it. I don't know. I did something

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kind of fun. You look at Trials, Endurance, Character, Hope, and if you put those together,

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if you put those into like an acronym, it makes the word tech. And I just like, that's

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kind of cool. So I just, I kept it like that. That was fun. But really like, I want you

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to like remember, I don't know, like, just think about, like think about your trials.

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This is what I want you to kind of think about. Think about the things you're going through

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right now that maybe are hard, the ways that you've suffered in the past, the way maybe

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you're currently suffering. And right now that's just where I kind of want you to stay.

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I'm going to read something real quick. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings

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because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope.

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So I don't know if you remember the meme whenever everyone was wondering why guys always think

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about the Roman Empire. Like I'm definitely one of those, I'm definitely one of those

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guys, you know, like, and like this verse is one of my reasons. This verse and also

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the writer of the verse is one of the reasons I probably think about the Roman Empire probably

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like every single day, at least once, if I'm being completely honest with you. So would

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I read is actually written by a member of the ancient Rome. His name was Paul. He was

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a pretty good, pretty cool, pretty cool, pretty good guy. I never met him, obviously, but

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I know a lot about him. I've read multiple of the letters that he's written and now those

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are letters are, are in the Bible. I think you probably got that by now. I would go back

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to this verse a lot though, whenever I am really stressing out, maybe I'm lacking hope

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or my condition is spiking so hard that it's hard to imagine my life without it. I know

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that dystonia does not have a known cure, which does kind of suck. But however, I know

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that God is the healer and through trials, he provides hope. So what does it, what does

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this have to do with calling though? Since this podcast is called the pursuit of calling,

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like why am I talking about trials and endurance and pain and like what, what does that have

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to do with the pursuit of calling? And well, another way to say this verse, another way

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to think about it is our trials are essentially, they're putting us against the grindstone.

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They're sharpening us and making us into more of who we are meant to be. I believe that

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you have to have a good character in order to properly pursue your calling. The, like

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we all have this call. I believe we all have a particular calling on our lives, but in

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order to live in it well, you have to have a good character and that character is molded

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and as character is in your character is sharpened and honed in to a fine point through the trials

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that we go through. And like, because you know, when the going gets tough, whenever,

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whether it's a physical or a mental trial, you want to be one of the people that are

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able to keep going. And we do this by being able to endure the suffering well, you know,

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like Lee Hanyo mentioned in his episode that he endures and pushes others to endure the

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pain of growth because everyone is able to do more than they, than they believe that

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they can. Even who you are right now, think about a trial that you've gone through in

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the past and how now you've gained this endurance. I'm running a touch more on this later. You've

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gained this endurance to be able to take on even more later. Think about the trials that

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you went on in the past again. I'm going to say it again. Think about the trials that

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you went on in the past that you're already focusing on and how much that has grown you.

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Think about who you were before, who you were during and who you were after. Like I guarantee

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you weren't, you aren't the same person.

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No, God knows this about you too. Like that, like he knows that you're capable of doing

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more than what, what you're currently doing. That's why he allows us to go through these

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trials because he knows that if we rely on him, that there is growth into suffering.

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You know, you've heard me talk about my dystonia before multiple times and how much of a struggle

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it is in my life and how much of a trial it's been. However, my character has grown so extravagantly

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since the beginning of this trial that without it, I wouldn't be the man that I am. You know,

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I wouldn't be doing this podcast right now. I wouldn't have the confidence, the hope,

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the joy, the certainty that I am capable of enduring more than I would have been able

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to do a year ago and I'm still going and I can still keep going and I'm still going.

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I'm still going to grow more. He's always more to grow in. I don't have this in my notes,

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but bear with me for a second. You're there's, we can always, there's always a point. It's

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never going to, no, there's never going to be a point where we're done growing with.

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There's no more growth to happen. There isn't, there is an infinite ceiling. The sky is not

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the limit. There is no limit, right? There's no limit to how much you can grow. There's

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no limit to how much you can learn. There's no limit to how much to the people that you

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can teach and the people that you can grow alongside of you. Like don't put limits on

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that kind of stuff. There's no, like, there's just not one. Think about it. Like I said

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before, think about the trials you already went through. We all have them. If you don't,

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if you haven't gotten anything through anything, you can't think of anything, you know, you're

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probably, you're pretty blessed, but you know, those are coming. Um, this trials are coming

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if you have, if you can't think of anything right now, but I'm sure, um, that's not to

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be discouraging. It's just, you know, to be realistic, they're coming. And that's also

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to be encouraging, right? That, you know, whenever you're going through something hard,

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that there is a purpose for it. Your past trials have reduced endurance out of you to

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be able to suffer even more later on. I've said this multiple times already, but I feel

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like that's something that really needs to be pounded in like a hammer on a nail. And

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it needs to be pounded in so that you really understand that your trials have a purpose.

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You got to admit it, that that's pretty cool. This newly found endurance you have produces

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a greater character inside of you, not just to be able to suffer more the next time. Right.

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You also gain some new abilities. And I say, let's go back. I say, not just to be able

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to suffer more. Like, um, we talked again, I'm going to go back to Lee, cause that, that

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is like that whole episode is kind of on the same topic. Like it's learning how to suffer.

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Well, you don't like just because like me, I'm going to use myself as an example, just

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because I'm going, it's cause I'm in pain every day because I'm suffering honestly,

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every single day. And whenever I honestly think of suffering, I like I'm suffering pain.

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I'm dealing with pain, I'm enduring pain. Right. But it doesn't mean my life is cause

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my circumstances suck did not mean my life sucks. I've said it before in a previous episode.

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And again, I'm going to say, I'm going to say, if you haven't listened to Lee's episode

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yet, definitely go back and listen to it. It is worth the listen. Now, so let's go into

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the, the abilities I've just mentioning. Like I said, you don't just gain the ability to

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suffer that suffer well. You also gain some new abilities, like the ability to walk with

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people who are going through what you've already went through or help people avoid the same

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pitfalls that you've, that you've already fell into. Like, you know, like, I like how

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John Maxwell said, he talks about leadership a lot of the time is like a leader doesn't

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stay at the top. Like a leader already has gone up the mountain. That's like the pioneer

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has gone up the mountain all the way to the top. And then the leader isn't the one who

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stays at the top, the leaders and like looks down on everybody and says, Hey, come on and

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get up there. I know you can cause I've done it. It's being able to walk back down the

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mountain and walk with people back up and telling and being able to help others avoid

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the same pitfalls and T and being able to teach them through your own experiences. So

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you also gain some wisdom. Personally, the wisdom I've gained by wanting, I've gained

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some wisdom through this trial that I've going through. Like I've gained by wanting to know

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more about my condition. I, I've gained like, um, about like some wisdom about how I can

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reach and influence people I've never met, regardless of my circumstance, like how, you

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know, how I've learned more about my health than I ever thought I'd care to know. And

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now I can't imagine even go into the grocery store and not looking at every ingredient

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in something before I buy it. It, like some people definitely would think I'm weird, but

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I care way more about my health than I ever have before. And it's honestly because of

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the, of this trial that I've gone through and it's, it's a part of my life that I mean,

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I can't, it's part of my life, like the actual, um, caring about my health. I can't imagine

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having not caring now. Like I can't believe how much I didn't care before. You know, I've,

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you know, I've also learned to, to lean into the fact that our time on this earth is short.

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I want you to hear this part. This is extremely important. I've learned to, I've learned to

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to lean into the fact that our time on this earth is short, that it doesn't matter where

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the circumstances are as much as it matters what you do with what you've been given. And

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that's where that, and that's how calling, how this all has to do with your calling.

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We're all given, we're all, we're all in trials. That's why God allows these trials. He doesn't

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put, he doesn't, I don't, he doesn't put us in trials. Sometimes I will sometimes he,

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maybe sometimes he does. Sometimes he wants to hone you in, but I believe in circumstances

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like mine, where I'm going through physical pain. And if you're a Christian, you know,

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like we are beautifully and wonderfully made. We are made in the image of God and in His

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perfection. Pain is not, was not part of His plan, but because of sin that was introduced,

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because of sin, pain was introduced into our life. If you're not a Christian, that, if

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you're not a Christian, that doesn't make sense. I encourage, I encourage you just to

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do, to look into that a little bit. You don't need to believe it. You don't need to believe

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it. That's okay if you don't. I, I pray that you still get as much as possible out of this,

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regardless of whether you, you don't believe in certain things, things I'm saying, but

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I pray that one day you will. But there's, but it matters. Like I said, it matters what

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you do with what you've been given. Your calling is what you can, it's honestly, honestly,

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it's the best thing you can do. Your calling, honestly, the way you live in your calling

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is you being able to use your past circumstances to others benefit. Your calling is bigger

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than you. Like I, I just, I just heard John Maxwell say in a podcast recently that if

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your purpose isn't bigger than you, that he doesn't believe that you're, that you're,

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that you have your calling yet. That you're, that you don't have your, that's not your

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calling. If the purpose you see for yourself isn't bigger than just you, then that's not

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your calling. And that's why I'm saying all of this, like everything that you're doing

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with your life, it needs to be bigger than you in order for you to live in your calling,

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in order to live in this larger, bigger purpose that is out there for you. You know, everything

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I've talked about today and everything I've talked about today, beside the trials is optional.

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You don't have to allow your character to develop for the better. You don't have to

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have hope. You don't even technically have to endure if you think about it. It's all

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a choice, but if you do all this well, you'll be, you will begin to live in the calling

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that is destined for you. It's all about the pursuit. And that's what I have for you guys

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today. If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast of the pursuit of calling podcast,

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you know, give us a five, give, give this podcast a five star review on Spotify and

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Apple podcasts and wherever you can listen. I just found out recently that you can give

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a five star review on pocket cast. If you listen on pocket casts, my favorite podcasting

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app. And again, I love you guys. Thank you for listening to this whole episode. Share

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it out on all your pla on all your social media platforms and I'll see you next time.

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Peace.