Everything Is As It Should Be
Tomorrow marks the end of another decade for me. That realization has triggered a bit of reflection, maybe more so than in other years. My patience is wearing thin and I am utterly exasperated with delaying plans we made in the “before times”. Sometimes that emotion feels very disconcerting.
It is with knowledge and gratitude that I mark the beginning of an eighth decade. There is recognition and acknowledgement of the gifts and privileges afforded to me throughout my life. I’ve experienced a purposeful existence. There have been so many exceptional times throughout this life for which I am grateful.
But just to keep things real, there have been some painful experiences too. And still, everything is as it should be.
Having failed at careers - bookkeeper, business manager, retail sales - was difficult to accept for this over compensating over achiever. However, I am accepting of my contribution to the world of business: I gave up on that MBA dream to get a teaching degree.
Yet even though each of those failures was a lesson in humility, I did learn and adapt and eventually found my passion again. To me, that is the human condition: to make mistakes, oftentimes colossal ones, and to learn from those missteps, and to find new paths.
I discovered through those early failures, that my original instinct - becoming an elementary teacher had been what I wanted to pursue since second grade - was what I really wanted. After the software start up I worked for failed, I happened onto a position as a preschool assistant. The preschool director then encouraged me to go back to get an education license, which of course, I did.
But, as I reflect on all of this and wonder what the next decade might be like, I feel comfortable in the knowledge that every stop on my life’s pathway, every stumble and misstep, has led me to this place in life. There are so many possibilities and so little time. What gives me comfort is the knowledge: