How does one ever end up doing what they do? I mean, specifically their career choice, because they have a talent or a financial need. There are so many, many choices and I wonder why each of us make the decisions that we do.
When I was nineteen, I was working in a bank and had the opportunity to get a promotion if I slept with the decision maker. Holy doodle, buy me a poodle! Even though I wanted the job I was young enough to know that I could get another job anywhere (back in the day). My mother had had a tough life and she admonished me not suffer or put up with anything I didn’t want to, and so I quit! Freedom, freedom and soon I had another job, better pay and a Union to protect me from horny, married men. It’s harder to pack up and quit these days and as we grow older our financial commitments and debt, secure us to sometimes unpleasant or at least unfulfilling careers. Sound familiar? They say that we spend the first fifty years of our lives collecting stuff and the second fifty getting rid of it! Over the last 5 years I have analyzed my material needs and realize that I have everything I need. It’s only when I pick up a home renovation magazine or a clothing catalogue that my urges are momentarily ignited. So, how does this relate back to the question of where and what we end up doing. Well, I tried to carve out a satisfying piece in my work life where I felt I was making a contribution to an organization and the lives of my colleagues as well as the clients I served. My contribution included sincere listening, encouraging and inspiring others to do their very best. To take chances and go out on a limb and to grab onto that dream that was deep inside each of them. I never took my own advice until quite recently when I decided to become a full time Celebrant!
The Age of Aquarius seems to well and truly over. However, those days reopened the door to the sacred. Life is precious and each of us equally has the same amount of time to spend it in whatever way we choose. We can’t postpone time nor can we buy more time. Slowing down the minutes in a day can be done by living with intention to what you are doing moment by moment. Ritual and ceremony help us to mark precious and important expereinces. Sometimes these experiences are sorrowful, some are joyous but all help us to pay attention in profoundly deep and meaning ful ways. We conciously create our own memories. What a fantastic “book to open” when we are 95 and sitting in our rocking chair!
