You’re having a struggle. You’re trying to identify the career direction your life should take and despite your best efforts you can’t figure it out. You’ve sought advice from your best friend to your dad’s business partner; you’ve read self-help books, walked in the woods, read the want ads, and nothing’s helped. Then, one night, you have a dream…
You’re standing in the great check-out line of life, and you’re handed a clip board and questionnaire. You’re told that you must complete the form before you’re allowed to pass from where you are to where you’re going. Once the Gates open you’ll get to choose what your next career should be.
You’re advised to pull up a chair, relax and reflect; you have plenty of time to answer the questions with care and consideration:
- Which of your life achievements are you most proud and why?
- What do you wish you had spent more time doing, and what, less?
- What areas of your life have you consistently overlooked despite their importance to your sense of self and well- being?
- If you had a chance to do next what you want to do most, what would next look like?
The man sitting next to you writes his responses with an energy and enthusiasm that suggests he knows exactly where he’s going.
“I do!” He says triumphantly. “It’s what I put off doing when I married and had children. It’s what I wanted but felt selfish pursuing. It involved financial risk and personal courage. I could have handled the risk and I had the courage, but I didn’t feel right asking my family to sacrifice a comfortable lifestyle for me to attain it. So I didn’t.”
“What is it?” I asked, assuming it involved sword-swallowing, storm chasing, or bungee jumping.
“I’m going to be a musician.”
“A musician? What’s so daunting about that? It doesn’t seem like such a risk.”
“It is if you’re a teenager and your parents say ‘You’re a fool’; ‘You’ll fail’; ‘Play it safe’; ‘There’s no future in it’. So I gave up on what I loved most and went with a career that paid the mortgage and made me miserable. I never dreamed I’d get another chance to do what I love. This time I’ll get it right. He completed the questionnaire, gave it to the Company Representative, and jogged through those Pearly Gates.
You were about to revisit the questionnaire when you noticed a woman seated to your right. She appeared deep in thought. You waited for her to break her concentration so you could ask if she were making any progress in completing the form.
“Oh yes, thank you, I am. I know exactly where I want to go next.”
Thinking of the conversation you just had with the fellow to your left, you asked, “Is it somewhere you’ve always wanted to go but hadn’t the courage to make it happen?”
“No”, she said simply. “I’m going to do a better job of going where I’ve already been.”
Your quizzical look spurred her to continue.
“I’ve spent too much time worrying about my looks, my title, and my competence. I want to do whatever’s next, differently. I want to spend more time exploring ideas and pursuing possibilities. I want to be fully present for the people who spend their time with me. I want to embrace life as it is, rather than battle it because it’s not what I want it to be.”
Your alarm clock rings and as it does, you realize that it’s time to wake up to the fact that you’ve avoided the obvious: asking yourself the questions you’ve not wanted to answer. You go to your laptop, and remembering the questionnaire, begin writing…
