I’ve been feeling a little blah with my life activities lately (or lack thereof). I’ve been taking care of low priorities at work while high priorities bore me to death. The worst part is that I’m starting to feel like working is just not worth the effort (now there’s something independent modern women love to hear other women say). The thoughts that cross my mind are that I wish I could just stay at home for a while so I can think of ways to make money that are more fulfilling than my current job. But then I remember one small detail: in order to succeed at one thing, you have to go all in. You can’t just go in half-assed and just hope it all works out. It takes a lot of time away from family, and a lot of man power to make anything work. I’m not ready for that kind of commitment (clearly). Also, one should never just work for the money… crap. There goes that motivation.
I think of doing a lot of things to make money: start some kind of low-overhead online business, write a novel, organize people’s junk, sell stuff online, etc. But I am not passionate about any of those things. I guess I’m just tired and I don’t want to do anything.
At the same time, I recall a piece of advice I gave my sister Monica Geller: we never stop wanting something different (i.e. grass is always greener). So what’s really the point of it all? It can’t be to find that “one thing” that you will love forever… technically, if I’ve been obsessed with hospitals and the medical profession for years, then I AM at my perfect job: great company, local company, full access to medical staff and procedures. I mean, I am in heaven! So maybe sometimes we have to consider the possibility that this is as good as it gets and we are just nit picking because it’s simply our nature.
Really, think about it: if I quit my job to become a…
… full time writer, I would be in one of the loneliest professions in the planet, and I’ll probably fall into a depression or find a job within the first 3 months.
… closet organizer, I’d get sick of people and their stupidness so fast that I’ll want to quit within 2 weeks.
… full time online business owner, it would take up so much of my time (even nights and weekends!) that I’d just suffer through life and end up finding a full time job somewhere.
… job hunting advisor, I’d feel so dissatisfied by the fact that everybody is moving on with their lives but me, that I’d take my own job hunting advice to find myself a new job.
As you can see, there is no one-path I’d like to follow for the rest of my life. If I had it my way, I’d opt for having multiple careers in my lifetime. But then I’d never become an expert or earn in the 6 figures at any one of them.
I guess you just can’t win in the game of life by choosing your perfect career correctly in your 20s and doing it forever, or to get rich. The only way to win appears to be to enjoy the ride and never look back.
So… how do you get in this “live in the moment” mindset?
ina
Photo Credit: IMDB: Men of a Certain Age
Frozen lake: inacove, author & photographer