What do you want to be when you grow up? I do not believe I could count the number of times that I have heard that question asked during my lifetime. Even in recent years I have been known to ask myself that question. Well, it seems now that at the age of fifty-seven I can finally answer that question with a reasonable degree of certainty. I am presently doing what I was meant to do long ago.

Perhaps if I had considered the answer to this question of what I would be when I grew up a lot sooner, when my chronological age was much less than today, I would not be in the position that I am at this time. There were many things that I thought about being when growing up in America's Heartland, things like jet pilot, fireman, businessman, teacher. Even in recent times I have had someone like my wife to yell at me: "Grow up, Delbert!"

I presently have a job that I have had for almost twenty-three years now. I can honestly say that I hate what I do for a living. On some occasions when I have tried to explain why I hate what Ido for a living, I have been met only with harassment and derision. There always seems to be some wise guy who just has to say: "What are you going to be when you grow up?" It is not so much the question itself that really irritates me nearly as much as the way it is asked. It is almost without variance that it is someone who has never done what I do for a living who wants to tell me what a good job that I have. This leaves no question in my mind that enjoying what I do and knowing that few if any other people could do it as well as I do is far more important than salary and employee benefits.

So, kids, consider carefully the next time you are asked "What do you want to be when you grow up? It is never too early, nor is it ever too late to consider the answer to this question. As for this fifty-seven year old kid, I am about ready to say "K.M.A." to my present employer, take early retirement, and go overseas to work as a missionary writer and English teacher in the Far East. That is why God placed me on this planet. It is only now that I can see that I should have followed my heart and my dreams years ago. Had I done so, I would already be what I had wanted to be when I grew up. Whether you are seventeen or fifty-seven, today is the day to consider not so much what to do for a living , but rather how to live. And, remember this: It is never too early or too late as long as there is breath left in your body.

Learn more about this author, Delbert Bryant.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Reflections: What do you want to be when you grow up?
We want to hear your view. Write now!