Choice is a good thing... right?

My parents gave me a fantastic gift; the gift of choice. When my dad was growing up in the 30’s and 40’s people didn’t make choices about what they wanted to do with their lives. More often than not, they did what their fathers did. They went to work in the mine or at the railway like their father and grandfather before them did. I am quite sure many of them didn’t like it, but families were big and food needed to be put on the table. They did what they had to do.

One testament to the fact that they didn’t like the lot that was handed to them was that they determined not to hand it on to their kids. This really started with the boomers, and by the time “Xers" like me came along; it was a fully fledged principle of middle class life. You always want your kids to do better than you did. It’s a great goal; as a parent it makes sense to me. So my generation got the gift of choice. You can do/be anything you want to. Go out into the world and make a difference. It’s yours for the taking… in the twenty or so years since I received this gift as I went out into the world, it has proven to be my albatross.

I woke up one day and realized I was closer to 40 than to 30. I also realized that I had spent the last 20 years "trying stuff on" to see what fit. I've had jobs in sales, customer services, IT, research and even management at a telco. It's been fun lots of the time but there's no consistency. I've also been all over the place trying to find the one spot that felt like home to me. The biggest thing that I've learned from all of this is that home is a concept within each of us. The purpose we seek won't come from somewhere else. Profound huh? Well, that's the easy part. I know now that I haven't found the thing that makes me want to get up in the morning and race off to do it. But I also have not been able to provide the stability that is looking more appealing as I get older. At 25, flying by the seat of your pants has a certain appeal. At 35 it's downright scary.

So... where does it go from here? That's a good question. I really have no idea. Come along for the ride if your up for it. Hopefully it'll keep us all at least somewhat amused.

Cheers!