Were it not for the Internet I would lie about my age, but the truth is I will turn 65 in short order and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. It's not for lack of trying, that's for sure. More than most, I have overturned many a rock and wandered down many a path leading nowhere, yet here I am, on the brink of Medicare, still searching.But then, how many people ever find their true calling? We're shuttled through elementary and then high school and pushed into college. The mavericks rebel and drop out, but for most, after four years--or maybe six or eight-- of higher education, the average, middle class citizen finds that first "real" job and stays there. The lucky ones get fired and are forced to move on, enabling them to learn more about the world and themselves, but too many get comfortable in that corner office and stay put until retirement, not because it's a calling but because it's safe.
Although leaving is always exhilarating--anything could happen!--life at the other extreme is hardly better. Despite having acquired a myriad of skills, my lengthy resume never gets a reading these days; in fact, headhunters suggest that anyone over 50 lop off the early years so potential employers aren't spooked by their advanced age, the heck with all that experience. For too many of my peers, careers are over, replaced by golf and grandchildren. Not yet that fortunate, I'm still trying to find myself, if only I knew where to look.
Some people work to live. Some people live to work. Perhaps for you "finding yourself" means looking at more than just what you can do to get paid.
ReplyDeleteKeith, if I had a dime for every endeavor I have undertaken in the last ten years seeking personal fulfillment that earned me a nickel, I'd have a dime.
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