by Linda M. Potter
My professional resume reads like a Wikipedia entry for Attention Deficit Disorder. I’ve had more jobs than hair colors and filled out more career aptitude forms than tax returns.
Early confusion is expected. That’s why we don’t hold kids to a career choice made at age seven. Otherwise, we’d have an overage of fire fighters, princesses and Incredible Hulks. I was mature for my age, abandoning my Tooth Fairy aspirations by the time I was out of kindergarten. By third grade, I knew with great certainty that I wanted to be an artist… or an actress… or a writer… or a teacher… or a standup comedian. (Or was it, “all of the above?”) By high school, I’d ruled out a couple of those options… but added a half dozen more.
For me, choosing a job path was kind of like walking through the gates of an amusement park and being forced to decide which ride to take. It wasn’t a matter of which ride to take, but in which order to take all the ones that looked appealing. Why would I limit myself to the roller coaster when the Tilt-A-Whirl, the Wild Mouse, Aladdin’s Castle, and the Merry-Go-Round were also calling my name?
As an adult, my ever-expanding list of potential career paths, combined with an unwillingness to make a lifetime commitment to any one option, eventually manifested as a little known, but extremely common condition called “Bright, Shiny Object Syndrome.” No sooner would I settle on a career direction that seemed acceptable – at least in the moment – than I would be drawn off track by some “sparkly” diversion that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, demanding my attention and screaming in my ear, “Doesn’t this look like fun?”followed by “When would you like to start?”
Everyone from parents to school counselors pressure us to decide what we want to be when we grow up from the time we’re old enough to understand what a job even is. If we haven’t decided on a career before we’ve graduated from high school, family and friends speak in hushed tones about our grim future, and if we don’t have a job lined up by the time we exit college, Mom and Dad are preparing a permanent room in the basement for us before the first piece of graduation cake is cut. If we’re still searching by the time we hit midlife, family members quit acknowledging our birthday, and we’re never again mentioned in the family Christmas letter.
Is it really that important to commit to a particular career path “‘till death do us part” (or Social Security kicks in – whichever comes first) before we even reach adulthood?
After yet again changing my career direction in my mid 50s, I had one of those “aha” moments that finally seemed to make some sense of the long and winding road that was my job history. I realized that, although I’d been asked repeatedly over the years what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was always expected to answer with what I wanted to do. As a result, I was always giving the wrong answer to the right question.
What we want to be defines our life path. What we want to do creates our career path. Being needs to precede doing or we’ll spend (like me) a great deal of time battling that Bright, Shiny Object disorder. And once we’ve chased some shiny object off the end of a cliff, it’s a very long way back to both paths! It’s so important to create a vision for our lives, a direction that allows us to express the unique, fabulous beings we truly are before we plot a job course. Out of that vision comes our life’s work, which then shows up as our career(s). As we tweak our life vision, as it grows and evolves, as we learn more about ourselves, our job path reflects those changes, taking some twists and turns, even heading off in an entirely new direction. When that happens, we’re invited to make new choices more in alignment with our new course.
For example, although we may choose at 21 to go into engineering, at 42 we may decide to try our hand at massage therapy; at 59 we might pursue a career in screenwriting; and at 80… well, who knows?
Wouldn’t it be great if we spent more time helping our children discover their life path and less time prepping them for a pre-approved career? Can you imagine how amazing it would be if our kids learned how to tap into their unique gifts and discover their passion at an early age; if they knew who they came here to be long before they were asked to make decisions about what they wanted to do? And then when they decided to get a degree in English, we wouldn’t make that screwed up face that they absolutely know means, “You really should reconsider computer programming; writers don’t make any money.”
Knowing who you are is the best preparation possible for knowing what you are here to do. How that path unfolds, what specific jobs you choose along the way are details in a much bigger, much more important picture. First things first.
Linda M. Potter is a licensed spiritual counselor, popular speaker, published author and the Managing Editor of the Healing Path magazine. Her book, If God Would Only Give Me a Sign is due out in fall, 2010. lindampotter@comcast.net, www.lindampotter.com.
by Tuula Fai
Marci Shimoff, New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason and Love for No Reason likes to begin her talks with showing a picture of herself at age two. In the photo, she has one hand on her head and a worried look on her face. Shimoff says she was born with “existential angst” and a “deep pain in her heart,” which she tried to fill with food.
At age nineteen Shimoff asked her dad, “What is the secret to life? He said, “Honey, just be happy.” Shimoff asked, “How do I do that?” He thought for a moment and then replied, “Honey, I don’t know.” Her dad didn’t know because he was a naturally happy person. So Shimoff set out to find the answer for herself.
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by Donna Gates with Lyndi Schrecengost
Born in prosperity, harbingers of change, Baby Boomers have made a significant impact on the world. But what will be our final legacy?
It’s been nearly 40 years since the Baby Boomers arrived at Max Yasgur’s 600-acre alfalfa field to attend Woodstock, an outdoor festival that was as much a counterculture “happening” as it was a celebration of music. Area residents didn’t know what to make of these “hippies” in bohemian dress who abandoned their cars and walked for miles to stand before the concert stage. Woodstock’s political provocation, defiance of convention, and back-to-nature innocence would make it one of the defining moments of an entire generation. Now, 78 million strong and approaching retirement, we Baby Boomers are showing few signs of slowing down.
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by Linda M. Potter
I was just notified through my Angry Birds software that I have now accumulated several achievement awards for such notable accomplishments as: smashing 500,000 blocks, busting 1,500 clouds, breaking open 2,000 cages, shredding 300 chocolate boxes, and snow- plowing down 1,500 ice blocks. Wow, I’ve been busy! All in the pursuit of the total annihilation of over 2,000 chubby little cartoon pigs that taunt me with their annoying squeals and rapid-blink eyes. Of course, I’m not really destroying anything — I’m simply assisting the snarly, vengeful birds out to take down the pork industry one little piggy at a time.
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Brent Hunter
“We have the opportunity to build a Rainbow Bridge into the Golden Age. But to do this, we must do it together with all the colors of the rainbow, with all the peoples, all the beings of the world. We who are alive on Earth today are the Rainbow Warriors who face the challenge of building this bridge.” - Brooke Medicine Eagle Daughter of the Rainbow, Crow and Lakota Medicine Woman
During a time of great darkness, the Earth’s waters will be dirty, the air polluted, the land ravaged and filled with warring peoples. During this time of unrest and sadness, a great new wind from the land of the Eastern Sun will blow across the land worldwide.
People of all colors will come together in the spirit of love, compassion, peace, unity, reconciliation and understanding, with respect for the sanctity of all life, the sanctity of nature and the sanctity of the Earth herself.
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by Brent Hunter
All over the world, people are tired of waiting for their government leaders to make the necessary changes that are promised year after year. While we try to remain optimistic about our future, some of us are frustrated, some are understandably angry, and we all hunger for change. Change is at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party Movements in the U.S. and for the Occupy Movement in many other countries.
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by Danny Long An unemployment rate as stubborn as the politicians trying to fix it. Debt as deep as The Waste Land. A global economy as fragile as a geriatric Humpty Dumpty. Say it with me: we’ve got problems. Yet…
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by Katrina Pfannkuch
So, you’re starting off 2012 with a new Smart Phone, fully equipped with must-have applications (apps) like Google Maps, iTunes and Angry Birds. Apps can brighten your day and make life a little easier. Now they can also help you respect the environment!
With technology an ever-growing part of our daily routine, sometimes we forget how it can also simplify our lives by helping us meet important personal goals. If you’ve been meaning to transition to a greener lifestyle but aren’t sure how, try downloading some apps to your mobile phone or laptop for helpful resources on easy, greener ways to manage travel, make purchase decisions and connect to important environmental causes.
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It’s a new year and time for a new list of resolutions! If you’re tired of old “promises” you know you’re not going to keep past January 31, mix things up a bit in 2012 with a few resolutions that will not only make your life cleaner and greener, but give the environment an eco-friendly boost. We asked a few green living experts to help us put together a do-able list. Check out the list and “begin anywhere” for a new year you’ll be proud to call your own.
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by Linda M Potter
In 1952, 22 year old Barbara Marx, the daughter of Marx Toys founder, Louis Marx, accepted an invitation to the White House. There she famously asked President Eisenhower, “What is the meaning of our new power that is good?” It was a question that had weighed heavy on her heart for seven years – the seven years since the bombing of Hiroshima. He didn’t have an answer. She was determined to find one.
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by Beth Buczynski
How many times a week do you take out the trash?
If you recycle your trash or compost your organic waste, you will notice a dramatic decrease in the amount of discarded trash generated by your household.
But achieving zero waste is about more than just recycling and composting.
Zero waste is an eco-conscious concept that involves viewing waste not as useless trash, but as a resource that can create jobs through collection and recycling, open up new financial opportunities for resellers, and most importantly, act as a raw material for the creation of new products.
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