This morning I took part in one of my few weekly routines: watching CBS's Sunday Morning. I'm drawn into it like a moth to the flame, and I'd like to accredit that to the weekends I used to spend with my grandparents. Once a month, my mother would drive me towards the retirement land of Coral Springs to spend time with them, and every Sunday I would awake from my grandmother's bed and hear Charles Osgood speaking from the other room. Like those clocks that play "womb noises" to subconsciously help people relax, my subconscious thinks that Charlie Osgood is simply a guest that comes to visit on Sunday's when I wake up, sitting in the other room chatting with my grandpa.Today, sitting in my PJ's with the remote in hand, they featured a story about baby boomers and how most aren't settling for retirement anymore. The basic gist was that folks are retiring earlier and living longer, so the short & sweet paradise of active adult communities are becoming overcrowded with bored sixtysomethings. Most, they said, were turning back to the working world. Of course, there are the basic neighborhood chains that entice the older crowd with flexible hours and extensive benefits (see: Home Depot, WalMart), but at the same time some retirees are looking for something with the same kind of challenge that a real career provided; something with mobility, but freedom.
Some turned to volunteer work, the more glamorous became part-time columnists for local newspapers; but what about the rest? With a sea of possible careers out there each with their respective pro's & con's, where is someone who's already had their run going to find a decent job?
Ironically, I can relate to this situation of disillusionment. As a high school sophomore, I'm already staring down college applications and a slew of potential careers. On the SAT everyone is required to bubble in their potential college major, (college major!) even though the test-takers themselves are only high school students. By now, we're expected to know exactly what we want to do and how we want to do it. And, believe it or not, most do. The ambitious in my class have already mapped out a complete plan for their immediate future. Colleges, professions, even internships; these kids have Googled it and written it down in preparation for the "real world." So, what about the rest of us? What about the "undecided" majors?
Personally, I have no idea what I'd like to do with my life. I have so many interests and so many things I excel at, I simply can't pick just one to commit to. I want to explore, I want to see it all, I want to leave life having done everything and anything I please. To the shock of my teachers, I don't find this unrealistic at all and I don't see how anyone possibly could. People can do whatever they'd like. Taking risks and trying new things are not taboo. Sure, it may sometimes mean that the person in question doesn't exactly live a lavish life, but why does that matter in the first place?
I chalk up my indecision to the fact that I'm an ENFP; I have too many things that I love and respect to follow only one. Yet strangely enough, this isn't the main problem I have. The rut I find myself in is one of, "Well, where do I begin?" College is both the land of opportunity and the land of major debt, so what would I like to pursue in it? Should I pick what I'm most interested in or should I pick what I like that requires a specialized degree? Where should I go and how will this affect my decision of what major to choose?
I find film fascinating, but I've always wanted to own my very own small-business. I love to bake, but psychology is also intensely interesting to me. I love to interact with other people, but then again I could spend days on end just writing, especially for a newspaper column. I'm fascinated by the concept of party-planning, but I would never forgive myself if I had to sit in a cubicle all day long!
The list stretches on and on, and I just don't even know where to begin. It seems like there's far too many questions and too few answers, so how do I deal with all these troubles? Personally, I think this is a universal struggle that we can all relate to on one level or another. What job should I pursue? What car should I buy? Where should I travel to next? The questions seem to never end, and they all ask almost the same thing.
The only way to survive out there in that great big world is to do what you love. And if you love more than thing, all the better. I always feel absolutely terrible when I see people who are miserable at their jobs and only doing it to keep their head above water. Your career should never ever be about how much money you make. Life is short and it should be about the experiences we take with us, not the retirement we save. After all, look at Sunday Morning. That retirement will only inevitably lead you back into the work world anyway.
Ironically, I can relate to this situation of disillusionment. As a high school sophomore, I'm already staring down college applications and a slew of potential careers. On the SAT everyone is required to bubble in their potential college major, (college major!) even though the test-takers themselves are only high school students. By now, we're expected to know exactly what we want to do and how we want to do it. And, believe it or not, most do. The ambitious in my class have already mapped out a complete plan for their immediate future. Colleges, professions, even internships; these kids have Googled it and written it down in preparation for the "real world." So, what about the rest of us? What about the "undecided" majors?
Personally, I have no idea what I'd like to do with my life. I have so many interests and so many things I excel at, I simply can't pick just one to commit to. I want to explore, I want to see it all, I want to leave life having done everything and anything I please. To the shock of my teachers, I don't find this unrealistic at all and I don't see how anyone possibly could. People can do whatever they'd like. Taking risks and trying new things are not taboo. Sure, it may sometimes mean that the person in question doesn't exactly live a lavish life, but why does that matter in the first place?
I chalk up my indecision to the fact that I'm an ENFP; I have too many things that I love and respect to follow only one. Yet strangely enough, this isn't the main problem I have. The rut I find myself in is one of, "Well, where do I begin?" College is both the land of opportunity and the land of major debt, so what would I like to pursue in it? Should I pick what I'm most interested in or should I pick what I like that requires a specialized degree? Where should I go and how will this affect my decision of what major to choose?
I find film fascinating, but I've always wanted to own my very own small-business. I love to bake, but psychology is also intensely interesting to me. I love to interact with other people, but then again I could spend days on end just writing, especially for a newspaper column. I'm fascinated by the concept of party-planning, but I would never forgive myself if I had to sit in a cubicle all day long!
The list stretches on and on, and I just don't even know where to begin. It seems like there's far too many questions and too few answers, so how do I deal with all these troubles? Personally, I think this is a universal struggle that we can all relate to on one level or another. What job should I pursue? What car should I buy? Where should I travel to next? The questions seem to never end, and they all ask almost the same thing.
The only way to survive out there in that great big world is to do what you love. And if you love more than thing, all the better. I always feel absolutely terrible when I see people who are miserable at their jobs and only doing it to keep their head above water. Your career should never ever be about how much money you make. Life is short and it should be about the experiences we take with us, not the retirement we save. After all, look at Sunday Morning. That retirement will only inevitably lead you back into the work world anyway.
1 comment:
And what you love to do will change. So pick something you can sustain and that will support your family (if you plan to have a family).
College is over rated. Experience is the higher calling. I can name 4 people in my immediate social group that have nothing more than high school, and not that it matters, but they make similar income to those with college degrees and the accompanying debt.
This trend will continue since college tuitions are skyrocketing. Businesses and professions will need to relax their higher education requirements and find other ways to vette a candidate's capabilities.
If someone asked my advice, not that you are, I would caution them to live a little before taking on college.
I have long held the belief and stated the fact many times, that we are required to make the most important decisions in our life at the time that we are least prepared to do so. The fix is to prepare yourself to make the right decision and only time as a working adult can accomplish that preparation.
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