Vocation: The Invitation of a Lifetime

I am preparing a 20-30 min presentation for student leaders at John Carroll University on the idea of vocation.  Since so many people exclusively associate the word "vocation" with the call to priesthood and/or religious life, I am NOT saying that I am a Jesuit novice until the END of the presentation!

I am seeking to get across the idea that ALL of us have vocations in our lives, and by that I mean a specific, unique, personal "calling" to a way of life (such as marriage, fatherhood/motherhood, a profession, or another special mission in life). 

This vocation is a calling that is personal, unique, from within one’s deepest, truest, and best self and DESIRES.  Yes, vocation is something you actually WANT to do, even if that means a lot of HARD work in the meantime.  Think of Jesus calling the rich young man to follow Him.  This was the INVITATION OF A LIFETIME, a calling to meaning and purpose beyond what he could have asked or imagined.  Yet as much as he might have wanted to follow Jesus, the young man turned Him down on His offer of vocation (and "went away sad"), because he couldn't accept the tough parts of the job.