I Never Found That Dream Job

I never really had any idea what I wanted to be. When I finished year 12 I was sort of at a loss because the careers I had thought I wanted as a teenager were no longer of interest to me, or more accurately I guess, they never really were.

I had kind of had my eye on either architecture or graphic design because I had great technical drawing ability… but I didn’t actually like it. People kept telling me to go for a career to make use of my art skill, but they never understood that being good at something doesn’t actually have to mean you like it.

I had thought I’d grow into the idea but ultimately, I could never get invested in those choices. I had reasonable grades though, especially in math and science so it’s not like I wasted my education planning for those careers, I could have pursued a few options if I’d wanted to. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I really envied those people that did.

My best friend for example, knew what he wanted to do when he was in primary school and he now has an established career doing exactly what he wanted to, and happy about it. But I finished school and I was a blank slate with no interest in anything. No map, no compass, not even a ballpark destination.

You can’t hit a target if you don’t know what it is. - Tony Robbins

I spent my 20’s bouncing from job to job trying to find something to be passionate about but I never did and eventually, I settled on a permanent nowhere job in a stationary warehouse.

It paid the bills and it wasn’t too hard on my body (some of my early jobs were backbreakers). I was there for about 4 years and probably would have stayed on until retirement in normal circumstances.

Now though, I’m a full-time home carer. I was forced to leave the warehouse job after an accident that left my wife with spinal injuries.

It changed a lot of things really. She can still walk, but it was a close call and as time goes by, her mobility does suffer more, but it’s the chronic pain that she really struggles with, it makes virtually everything a massive undertaking for her.

It just became too difficult to juggle my responsibilities at home with a full time job and the company was getting really snarky about how much time I was needing to take off, both for general care and for the multitude of appointments she needed to go to.

I get it, but it’s not like I was trying to take advantage, I just had things I had to do. I suspect the boss helped me out a little because I didn’t expect to be able to hold onto that job for as long as I did.

It took a long time to cut through all the red tape but I applied for the carer’s pension, it took about 3 months to get through all the checks and paperwork.

It was pretty darn good timing as well, as it all went through only about a month after my first daughter was born. My wife definitely needed the help at home with a newborn. She needed a hands on dad because there were just so many things she couldn’t handle herself.

And that’s what I’ve done ever since.

The money isn’t the best but I have appreciated the opportunity to spend a lot more time with my family, especially when my children were still young. And I don’t have to stress about my wife hurting herself while I’m at work so it’s a little less stressful for me overall.

So, my forever job is a house-husband/home-carer and it’s actually the only job I ever actually felt at home in (sorry, Dad jokes are irresistible now).