I read someplace—don't remember where, sorry, but probably a book by a Buddhist teacher—that even the highest purpose ought to be abandoned if what we once did with love, we now view as a duty.
I think there's another way to look at this: there are thousands, if not millions or billions (perhaps one for every person) of ways to serve others. And our own evolution need not be thrown out the window just because we once made a decision (there's that choice thing again) to serve in one way. The trick, of course, is to determine what is the reason you want to change (and to what degree). An example: let's say you're a doctor. Years of medical schooling, practice, all of it, and for years you loved what you were doing. One morning you wake up and hate your job. Loathe it. Now what?
Well, why? Perhaps the answer is not to leave medicine and run off to Tahiti to be a painter. Perhaps the answer is to become part of a different way of practicing medicine. Perhaps your spiritual growth has taken you in a different direction. Perhaps you feel stifled and un-helpful because of the bureaucracy. Perhaps, perhaps. Here's where you get to explore the options. What would you do if you could do anything?
That's when you have a calling, perhaps, or perhaps the change in question has to do with someone else's well-being. In those cases, I think a long hard look at what is blocking your engagement is very valuable—not just the what, but the why.
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