Risk
“What do you want to do?”
This question has been haunting me for a while now. I never really had a “dream job” growing up (but let my mother tell it I wanted to be an art teacher.) In college I thought maybe I wanted to get into hospitality, working at hotels and resorts, probably as an excuse to travel and get out and see the world. The program I enrolled in was terrible, I don’t think I ever met the professor in person once and this was before the virtual class era. I learned absolutely nothing. Switching to getting a business management degree was an easier decision instead of switching majors completely and starting over.
The business world, though it’s good to have the knowledge of how it works, really isn’t for me. No creativity, no originality, no expression. Overall, it’s been pretty unfulfilling. If you’ve seen the episode of Spongebob where Squidward moves to Tentacle Acres and everyday starts to blend in as he settles in the same stale routine, that’s exactly what it feels. Everyone looks alike, dresses the same, behaves the same, go through the same small talk all to keep up the appearance of “professionalism.” Eventually you become another hamster on the wheel, or in Squidwards case, another squid who can’t play the clarinet (or something like that, analogies aren’t my strong suit.) Personally, I’m ready to get off the wheel.
Truly, I think I would like to take a sabbatical, a few months off of work, and just travel. That’s such a risk for me, but I’d like to build up the courage and confidence to just do it. Not only would the experience be inspiring but give me a different outlook , help me see different perspectives. Being in your comfort zone is so easy, it’s when you take risks that you make a difference in your life and I would rather not live with regrets and dwelling on the things I “should’ve, could’ve” done. So many of us are working to bone to make someone else rich. Recently, I saw a quote somewhere on the internet that said “it’s expensive to be poor and cheap to be rich.” This goes beyond money. We’re giving them time, years of our life we’ll never get back, time with our family and our friends, time to enjoying ourselves, just for them to live lavishly and pass all they own to generations of their family. Rarely do they give back to us in a meaningful way.
What do I want to do with my life?
I want live freely. I want to allow myself to be human and to go out and have personal experiences I can look back on fondly, memories I can cherish. To live without a regret that I didn’t at least try (almost) everything at least once that I gave thought to. No better time to start than the present.
