Pick One

What do you do when you have so many things you enjoy in life? "Just pick a career!" everyone will tell you. Teachers, parents, friends, mentors, everybody. How do you pick a path in life when you love so many different things? I love nature. I love making things. I love helping others. I love things that I don't even know the category of. If you're someone like me, you know exactly what I'm saying. They tell you that you need to pour all your time into one thing, to be the best at what you do. Tell me how you pick, because I want to know.

I have an uncle who is a welder. He has his own business and is a top notch welder. His son is following in his foot steps. There was no hesitation. As soon as he could work, he was in his dad's shop helping. At 22, my cousin has learned a trade, that he is great at, and has a lifetime career full of promise and success.

A friend I grew up with decided one day that he wanted to be a DJ. He hasn't stopped since and practices on a regular basis. He is becoming a success. He has played in some big name clubs, has toured, and has been a part of a huge music festival recently.

I went to school with a girl a grade below me. She is now a successful politician and the youngest in Florida to ever become what she is.

When I tried to think of that third one, I realized the majority of the people I know have bounced around from dead end jobs. They have decided that life is just one dead end job after another. Maybe finding that right career is just in their blood for some. Others I know have searched and searched for their perfect career, some find it and some don't. The biggest pressure we have is money. How do we start some things without money, or without drowning in debt for decades and decades of our life? "Pick this career, you'll make 6 digits easy." I recently heard something really eye opening about that. We should strive for the lifestyle that gives us satisfaction. Not everyone wants to be a millionaire. I just want a career that allows my family and I to spend as much time as possible together, and to travel. That sounds like so much to ask for doesn't it? It shouldn't be. Why can't we spend time with our families if time is so precious? Why should I be stuck in a 9-5 job and have someone else raise my daughter? Or have my relationship fall apart because we don't spend enough time together? I refuse to. My career decision will reflect what I want in life.

I know what I don't want in life. That seems to be more important than knowing what I do want. It's easy to identify what you want. Like when you walk into a store, when you see that house decoration or new pair of shoes, you know whether you want them or not. One thing my mom always tells me is, keep trying new things. When I was younger, I thought I would try pet sitting. I have always had large dogs and we had a small farm. I had every category of animal at one point or another so I figured why not pet sit? I got my first job. It went great for a few months, until my boyfriend (now husband) pointed out that this guy I was dog sitting for, who was like 15 years older than me and knew I had a boyfriend, was flirting with me. I thought he was just being friendly so I ignored it. Well, my boyfriend confronted him and the guy didn't take it so well. He said it was fine, but a few weeks later, he told me he found someone else to watch his dog. He also left a nasty review on my online profile. I deleted my profile because I was humiliated. I decided I was done pet sitting. I'm still learning to cope with failure, I've never handled it well. I'm still not sure if I'm done pet sitting. That situation did help me to stand up for myself more. I would not tolerate something like that now. It was a good life lesson to not let these scenarios scare you away from your goals.

I realize, I am someone who loves to explore new things. A lot of things don't keep my focus too long but I always come back to them. I have no idea what kind of career I can benefit from this other than some sort of blogging. Which, I guess I began doing now. Even with that I can't decide a specific topic to keep to. I could literally list like ten things right now that I could blog about for months. Maybe I should just make a list and go through them one by one. Writing ideas down always helps me. If I can't decide, I go through each idea and find out which I like best. I'll test them out or write pros and cons. Sometimes I don't end up being fond of any of them.

For people like me, I guess you could say we're testers. But some of us it seems, they give up. They stop testing and trying. They settle for that dead end job. That same person I mentioned above who DJ's, his sister has been at a grocery store since she was in high school. It goes to show that even being apart of certain families won't always do any good. What we tell ourselves, our attitude, who we are is what decides our paths. I will not let my path be cut short and give in to a career I can't stand. But I am still trying to change my bad habits. Realizing, is what opens those doors to better things. It feels like those doors are opening slowly, but I can feel a breakthrough coming. And I'm ready for it.