What keeps you up at night?

That's a question I've heard posed often...especially during the 10 years I was working in campus ministry.

I loved my time in ministry...I believe I was  good at it...And I think I impacted lives through the process.

And yet, honestly, there were not many nights that I laid awake thinking about aspects of the work that I just couldn't put to rest.  It was never something that haunted me, but it did make me wonder at I hadn't fully hit my sweet spot.

A couple of years ago I began to sense, largely for family reasons, that it was time to move on to a different location and potentially a different line of work.  Ultimately, the journey led me to start an MBA about a year ago, and more recently to enter into the real estate business.

As I reflect on this past year of a new endeavor, it dawns on me that I have often found myself restless or awakened because my mind is racing/dreaming about something I have learned and been thinking about in business school or the real estate world.

Can't say that I love the less-than-ideal sleep pattern, but I do wonder if it indicates that I am getting closer to the sweet spot of the "right" work for my world.

I am not ready to fully advocate for the question "what keeps you up at night" as THE guiding principle for discerning your work that matters, but it does seem to at least carry some informative qualities.