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What Else Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?
I have a friend whose father works as a surgeon. He's an intelligent man, logical and skilled, who excels at his work not only because he's got the mind and training for it, but because he loves his work. But like most people, he entertains other interests. As a father to seven grown children and a grandfather to two bajillion grandkids and counting, his house often plays host to large gatherings over long holiday weekends. On those Saturdays, while the family eats, catches up, and plays with grandbabies, my friend's dad slips out to partake in his other passion: cars.
One by one he pulls each of his children's cars into the garage and gives them the automobile equivalent of a day at the spa. Wash, wax, beats the floor mats, vacuums the interiors, pops the hood and changes oil, wiper fluid, what-have-you. When he finishes with one, he parks it in the yard, pulls the next one in, and continues to work.
My friend once speculated that if her father's circumstances had been different--meaning fewer than seven kids to support, a struggle even on a surgeon's salary--she thought he might find contentment running an auto shop and working on cars all day every day, not just during the weekends when the kids converge on Grandpa's house. She knows he wouldn't change any aspect of his life for anything, yet she wondered if, given the choice, he would trade one career he loved for another.
Kids often ask each other what they want to be when they grow up. A cop, a fireman, a truck driver, an architect, an archaeologist--another friend's answer after he saw Indiana Jones for the first time--a cowboy, a princess, Batman. Those answers usually change. The same friend who yearned to explore caves riddled with traps and recover ancient artifacts rescinded his answer once he found out that archaeologists don't dodge traps and swing around on whips nearly so often as Indy insinuated, and opted for a safer career as a computer programmer, a job he loves. But sometimes, old answers to the age-old "what do you want to be?" inquiry don't fade away in favor of something different. They just step back and wait patiently for their time to shine underneath a different light.
I am a writer by trade and by passion. I wouldn't give up the writer's life for anything, but I often find myself thinking about second choices. I realize my enviable position in attaining my dream job--although I wouldn't turn my nose up at a slightly better pay grade than the one I sometimes experience as a freelancer--yet even so, I often find myself thinking about other professions I would love to try but cannot or consciously decided against.( Read more... )
One by one he pulls each of his children's cars into the garage and gives them the automobile equivalent of a day at the spa. Wash, wax, beats the floor mats, vacuums the interiors, pops the hood and changes oil, wiper fluid, what-have-you. When he finishes with one, he parks it in the yard, pulls the next one in, and continues to work.
My friend once speculated that if her father's circumstances had been different--meaning fewer than seven kids to support, a struggle even on a surgeon's salary--she thought he might find contentment running an auto shop and working on cars all day every day, not just during the weekends when the kids converge on Grandpa's house. She knows he wouldn't change any aspect of his life for anything, yet she wondered if, given the choice, he would trade one career he loved for another.
Kids often ask each other what they want to be when they grow up. A cop, a fireman, a truck driver, an architect, an archaeologist--another friend's answer after he saw Indiana Jones for the first time--a cowboy, a princess, Batman. Those answers usually change. The same friend who yearned to explore caves riddled with traps and recover ancient artifacts rescinded his answer once he found out that archaeologists don't dodge traps and swing around on whips nearly so often as Indy insinuated, and opted for a safer career as a computer programmer, a job he loves. But sometimes, old answers to the age-old "what do you want to be?" inquiry don't fade away in favor of something different. They just step back and wait patiently for their time to shine underneath a different light.
I am a writer by trade and by passion. I wouldn't give up the writer's life for anything, but I often find myself thinking about second choices. I realize my enviable position in attaining my dream job--although I wouldn't turn my nose up at a slightly better pay grade than the one I sometimes experience as a freelancer--yet even so, I often find myself thinking about other professions I would love to try but cannot or consciously decided against.( Read more... )
