The concept of a vocation is a fairly recent invention, mostly arising out of the Protestant brand of Christianity. Work has been disdained throughout most of history [1]. Therefore, I would say that liking your work or finding your calling are not things that everyone can even do or has to do. The idea of a vocation strikes me more as intellectual rationalizations arising in tandem with the current economic mode of life.
That's very interesting. I suspect folks like Marcus Aurelius, Lao Tze, Socrates, Murasaki Shikibu and their ilk knew what a "calling" was long before there was a word for it.
I agree with GP - that's quite anachronistic. I can't speak for Murasaki Shikibu, since I haven't read her, but I think the idea is quite discordant with the published thoughts of the others you mention. Socrates, for example, might have believed he personally had a specific purpose in the world, but he would have understood that in a very different way than our conception of a vocation.
Really. Vocation is analogous with the notion of 'personally having a specific purpose in the world', according to the dictionary's first definition of the word.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Work-Richard-Donkin/dp/023...