The Ghost of Futures Past

You HAVE to go back in time and choose a different career path for yourself. What do you choose?

Yikes, that's hard. I am one of those people who has a fear of commitment. I am quick to shop, and then immediately head out to either put something back on the shelf, or return it after I've gotten home (this is a trait that drives my husband bonkers. No lie. Bonkers). I do this with everything, I "try on" an idea, and swiftly declare it is not for me and head to something else while still having the first idea in the back of my mind. Yep, fear of commitment with a side of indecisive, that's me.

A friend and I used to joke around about wishing there was a degree/career called A Jane of All Trades. And, honestly, that's what we both need given that I have been in costuming, crowd control, security (that was a day long stint), retail, customer service, photographer assistant, government, internet radio, cake decorator/baker, blogger, not for profit, insurance, and education. And I'm only 28 years young... For anyone shaking their heads #1. I happen to have gotten into the nitty gritty of career digging during a major economic recession, and have become well acquainted being laid off, #3. While dealing with unemployment I ended up being pretty resourceful in either how to bring in some money, or how to boost my resume, and #3. Look at the paragraph above.

I say all of this because I honestly don't know what I would do differently. Teaching, what I am going for now (and fully committed too thanks to the declarations and evil eye of my husband), is not my dream. It is stable, though, something I am good at, and allows me to be in the work force while also staying at home with my kids when they are home. And I really like helping kids see that if they change their inner dialogue that they can achieve more than they thought possible. Might not be much more, but any little bit counts.

In the past I wanted to be a high school French teacher. I still think that would be pretty great, but with all of the law/regulation changes I'm not quite certain that would be a good fit for me now. I also wanted to be a nurse or an engineer. What I have learned is that the medical field is awesome, and that my brain is not smart enough for the math that engineers use. I also wanted to work for the airlines, but now that I am a mom I am very thankful that I am not doing that, away from them all of the time (more power to all of the mommies out there who do it, though).

Mainly, what I always wanted was a prestigious job where I could travel and make everyone proud thinking I had accomplished something. I then found out that God has a sense of humor, and that, that usually interferes with people's perceptions of themselves along with their goals.

I think if I knew then what I know now that I would have gone into the medical profession. I have always been interested in it, pretty good with people, and good with math/science that does not go into calculus and beyond. I always thought that working in labor and delivery would be one of the most beautiful jobs anyone could do, and really did entertain thoughts of that for a while (of course, not even going there with abortion and assisting. Just, no.). And blogging, I love doing it when I have the inspiration and time. So if I could go back in time I'd tell myself to deliver babies, have my own babies, get an annual pass to Disney, be a Disney travel planner (always, always wanted to do that) and be a famous blogger about all of it!