This week in the class I teach I’ve been talking to my students about career preparation. Specifically we’ve been looking at our personal abilities, aptitudes, and values and kind of seeing how each of these might contribute to their future career choices. They’re mostly 13 years old and already some of them have clear visions about who they want to be when they grow up. It’s pretty remarkable. Especially considering that at age 31 I am still asking myself this question.
It’s a strange age, 30-something. All our lives, we’ve moved in steps together with our peers. We all choose our high school sports at the same time. Within a few years, we’ve all gotten our driver’s license and probably our first jobs. A few years after that, we’ve got a high school diploma and then a college degree. We’re all off in the workforce. We’re all newbie adults just finding to find a place to settle in. And that’s where all the similarities end. Suddenly we’re on different paths and time tables, falling in and out of touch for reasons other than problems and it gets tougher and tougher to determine if you’re on the right path. Are you growing up to be the person you’re meant to be? Are you doing what you meant to do?
I can look back on friendships, great great friendships, that have almost fallen to the wayside recently not because of any personal issues, but because our lives have grown soooooo drastically different that it’s hard to find common activities. I have peers whose fashion sense ranges from full out “mom” wear to slinky sexy club wear, and I’m still unsure of where I fall on the spectrum.
So what do I want to be when I grow up? I can think of a few....
I want to be a poster of wellness. Think Karina and Katrina, aka the Tone It Up girls. Holy girl crush. I think I’m in love. And on top of that their advice is sound and their workouts are legit. Right at my level and leaves me feeling refreshed. Try this Bikini Body Challenge workout and tell me you’re not drawn to them.
I want to be real. Not real like I don’t give a f**k about anyone’s feelings and I’m going to start swearing all over the internet. Not like that. I want to write honest pieces that people are affected by. I’ve found few bloggers as real as Erin Gray in this post. If you don’t follow her, you should. She’s inspiring and normal and a phenomenal writer to boot.
I want to have a kind heart. I’ve been successful at this in some realms of life and failed in others. I have a ways to go. I tend to internalize things and toil over them when I don’t feel comfortable and put people off. I’m hoping to stop doing this one day. I’ll let you know how it goes. I wish I could maintain a FUN, bright attitude all the time, but it seems I have a dark side that haunts me.
I want to be successful. I’m sick and tired of feeling like the best successes of my life were in my early twenties. There has to be more. Otherwise, why would people live so long? I want to establish new goals and ideals and values and hey.... maybe I ought to take my own class this year. After all, everything happens for a reason, and I've found that a great way to learn a new skill is by teaching it to others ;)
