Thursday, September 11, 2008

Mid-Life Crisis?

Is 29 too young to have a mid-life crisis? I mean ideally I would like to live beyond 60... Assuming I am still in good health. But this can't be a quarter life crisis because I REALLY don't want to live to be 120! Either way, crisis I am having. I think I have pretty much concluded that I don't really LIKE real estate or mortgages. And I can't believe that this is what I should spend the next 30 some odd years doing just because I happen to be fairly good at it. I mean, right? How can I condemn myself to a life sentence of working at something I don't enjoy?

The logical next question is... what DO I like to do? The answer is a resounding "I have no effing clue!" Because I am a HUGE dork, and also because I am
seriously desperate here guys, I went online earlier today and googled "what do I want to be when I grow up" and up came a few pages, one of which was this online test thing where you answer a bunch of questions and it matches you to some careers.

#1 Personal Trainer.

#2 Event Planner.

#3 Teacher.

Now I'm not sure where #3 came from... I apparently missed the check box next to "hates kids" or something. #2 is not a shocker given I love cooking and planning parties and so on. I've even looked into that as a career path numerous times and even had my own catering business for awhile. Sadly getting a culinary degree is prohibitively expensive and it seems that to get an event planning job you either have to have loads of experience (which I am not sure how I am supposed to get if EVERYONE requires experience but that's neither here nor there) or you pretty much have to know someone in the industry who will hook you up with something on the bottom rung so you can work your way up. Anyone out there know anyone who works in event planning that is hiring?

Now #1 shocked me a little. I guess I can't see past these 20 pounds I've been adding over the past year. I mean would any of you hire a chubby trainer? Not to mention I haven't seen the inside of a gym in months and my running shoes get mostly used for aerobics tapes in the living room these days. But I was talking to BFL this afternoon and she didn't seem
surprised at all. I do have a lot of information running around in my head from working with the nutritionist... And I DO enjoy being active. Plus it would fit right in with my whole, hates to sit at a desk for 8 hours, likes flexibility and to be outside as much as possible, likes to help people thing. AND in its defense it is relatively inexpensive to get certified to be a personal trainer.

I guess I should have paid more attention when I was joking with
TheBoy that I am just waiting for him to make the big bucks so I can stay home and teach yoga for a living!

Am I totally crazy y'all? Cause I kind of feel like I am losing my freaking mind over here! I am actually seriously considering trying to find a waitress job or a retail job for a few months so I can at least make SOME $ while I try to figure this all out... But how do I tell me people I left a perfectly respectable industry (that I had been in for a decade) to wait tables and find a dream job?? Aren't I just a
smidgen too old for this crap?

The upside to all this? Even with the no job, no money thing looming over my head I am happier now in the last couple weeks than I have been in well over a year. That has to count for something right?

2 comments:

Michele said...

Maybe it is a uh...3rd of life crisis?

I have said it before but they say most people change careers at least 3 times in their life. There is NO reason to waste your life doing something you don't like.

However, that being said - don't be in a hurry to leave your current job. I would stick with it while you figure things out.

If personal trainer is something that interests you, look into it, and keep the income coming in the mean time.

A good book to read to help you out is "What color is your parachute". Also, the forum. Let's do it.

Anonymous said...

everyone goes thru this babe. i still have no clue what i want to do with myself. i was stuck in a dead end job for ten plus years in a field i hated. then i got this job which has been great the past year but it's still in the same field. not at all where i want to be. so... i have no answers for you. lol. sorry. just know that we're all in the same boat. i do believe something great will come along for both of us. xoxo.

or maybe we'll hit the jackpot and become ladies of leisure and this won't matter anymore. ;)