Early in high school I planned on a military career. When I started college I figured on physics, or chemistry; some respectable science career. Along the way I got paid to program, and became hooked; everything I've done since has included programming, though it wasn't usually my job title.

I had a moment similar to your fence digging epiphany, while working at a steel mill. Watching the guys climbing around on machines that were rolling bars of red-hot steel made me realize that writing and programming are really good jobs :)

I've been a programmer for what, 19 years now, but I find it funny that I never considered it my calling. For a long time I wondered if I'd missed my calling (I used to joke that it saw me coming and ran away). I'm not one of those "programming is just a job" types; I program for fun and write about it in my spare time.

Maybe finding your calling is like finding True Love. When I stopped looking for a relationship, one found me, and now I'm married with two kids. I hope that doesn't mean I've grown up though -- I still don't know what I want to do then :)

I'm thankful for my job too. It lets me pursue other things, including parenting, the latest, most wonderful challenge and the most satisfying to date. Thanks for posting this reminder.