by Roddy J Dryer

Created on: June 29, 2008

Denial can be a powerful force in one's life, although I have no idea why. Regardless, it often forces people to stick with jobs they think, or want to think, are best for them. They may have pursued that particular career field when younger, and then told by so many in their lives that they couldn't be luckier for this. After all, it could be the job they said they wanted when asked by an elementary school teacher, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

It could be the next-best career field settled into when one discovers the job they wanted while growing up just wasn't happening. Not everyone can be an astronaut or a ballerina, and many of us know how difficult it can be to make a living as an author, although all of those jobs sounded so cool when we were prepubescent. Later on in life, for most of us, a moment of truth must come to one when one has to face the fact that one is not going to be a rock star.

I look back to my thirties, having to convince myself that the job I had during that entire decade was one I did not want (anymore), did not enjoy (anymore), yet I refused to recognize I could do without. I somehow convinced myself I was too old to make a career change at that point in my life, as if retirement was just around the corner. I can tell you that, often times during the drive to that job, I felt like retirement should be just around the corner. I felt it in my back and I felt it in my soul.

What was worse was that so many people in my life, and so many who crossed my path just long enough to carry on a ten-minute conversation, felt I had the job of the century. Well, it wasn't so much the job as it was the company I worked for, which is well known around the globe and seen as the fantasy' company to have as an employer. I have to admit that some of the benefits to working for that company were unique and so valuable, that they were the fuel to the fires of my denial.

Regardless of how sweet the bennies were to me, a moment came when I realized, finally, I had to move on. I knew that if I was actually going to reach actual geriatric status and not merely feel like I was already there, I would need to find something to do with my day and life that meant something to me, not just those around me. Besides, working that job eventually turned out like working at the zoo. Sure, when you wander through the publicly accessible area, the sights and sounds are beautiful, and the pelts seem so exotic, but get behind the scenes and it's so different. Back

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>