The Kindergarten Question...

With the school year beginning once again! I find myself asking an innocent question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" As innocent as it may seem, I never realized the consequences of such a loaded question. Most of us were so eager to hone our future selves, so what happened?

Obviously for me life happened. We often have obligations, duties to uphold, and families to keep together. I spent six months in Italy, and received my bachelors degree in history... big whoop I graduated, now what? Turns out your degree means nothing, no one is hiring, and now you have no experience because personal shit hit the fan. You can volunteer all you want, but you still need to make money. So I succumbed like so many of us do, to the brutal giant that is retail. I say enough! I shall submit no more! I want out, because damnit my time is worth a lot more than $10/hr.

I don't want to be one of those people who hopscotch across the retail job market pretending this one will fill the void. So instead of asking "what I want to be," I've started asking "what makes me happy?" Originally that is all that matters, right? So while I won't say I am jaded, I will say I want a career. A real career, something I can be proud of, and take with me while I hop about the country with my boyfriend.

Sometimes I think that is too much to ask for, but today I was offered an independent contractor position at a travel agency, and by golly I'm going for it. Not because it is what I wanted to be, but because it will allow me to do what I love; being there for the people I love. What I want, and want to be when I grow up is: abundant, joyful, passionate and loved.

We put too much pressure on our youth to pick a career, stick with it, get good grades, and stay out of trouble. I was a good kid. I did all that stuff, and in the end I felt like I got robbed a little bit. I was so focused on having to do this, having to do that, that I never touched base with myself before making my mistakes. Listen to your heart, your kids, your spouses, your friends. Notice what they excel in, what they like, what they think, then ask them "what makes you happy," and then nurture that.