Day 4: A little more CHANGE

Hi all,

It's been quite the tiring day.  I came home from work and completely crashed.  I think right now because I need to make some major steps towards change it can all be overwhelming.  Big thoughts in my head right now.. do I take the obvious open opportunity in front of me because I'm really wanting a change of pace or continue to seek for the dream?  I mean.. really.. what is the dream in its entirety and how do I know what lies in front of me won't lead me there?  The answer to this is.. I don't know.  I have an awareness of what I would find pretty interesting to do as a job.. but not quite sure how I will be getting there.  People always says the Lord works in mysterious ways.... I guess I just need to pray and trust.

Enough of my ramblings...

Today, I will be answering the questions at the end of chapter 2.. that's it.  I'm supposed to write out my answers so here I go.

Countdown to Work I LOVE

1. Respond to the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
• Wow sir!  This is speaking right to how I feel right now.  I know I need to make a change but how can I ensure that change is going to progress my situation, keep me complacent (yikes!), or worse have me go backwards in some way. 
• I suppose the key for me will be to look & seek out progressive changes. Alot of this I believe will require some serious prayer and LISTENING on my part.  God is trying to tell me something.. I know it.. I'm just hard of hearing these days.  Lord help!
2. What statement describes your career path so far?
• The path of least resistance and risk. (This is disappointing but true....)
3. How has a company change affected you?  How did it make you feel?
• Well... there hasn't been a company change that has really affected me personally. They've done some reorganization at my job which is a nice way to say they laid some employees off to get rid of redundancy, but it hasn't affected me directly (yet).
• It made me feel like nothing is as secure as it seems though.  There were people who worked at Purdue for years.. real workaholics.. and got thrown out like yesterday's newspaper.  The thing I thought about it is..
• What would happen if you stayed at a job your entire life that you didn't love and just to make a paycheck, worked your tail off for years.. for the "security" and got laid off randomly?
• What would that do to your spirit? 
• How do you reinvent yourself when you haven't really been yourself in a long time? 
• Would you continue a life of status quo and look for the next mediocre job that doesn't fit you still... or do you say "screw it.. I'm going to do what I want to do?".  (For some reason I'd imagine it'd be the former and that ladies & gents is quite depressing.)
4. Have you ever experience any "failure" in your career?  If so, what did it lead to?
• Well... I think I'm failing right now by not doing something that I'm motivated to be my very best in doing.  I'm SO on the status quo end of things.  Quite frankly, I feel like I'm failing myself and the individuals I work with. It's really hard to do 100% when you are unmotivated........
• It lead to me reading this book and writing this blog.  Hopefully I will grow from this and inspire some to do the same along the way.
5. What were your childhood goals and ambitions for life?  Which ones have you been able to fulfill?
• Childhood goals: Become valedictorian of my high school, be the next Doogie Howser.. maybe as a neurosurgeon, become an astronaut or for NASA in some capacity, be prosperous, have a loving marriage and a kid or two, travel the world.  Can't think of anything else that I wanted to do or be as a child.
• Let's see... too old to be a Doogie Howsers... didn't go the NASA route... hmmm still living paycheck to paycheck... single... been to Florida (does that count?!).. I suppose the only one I've accomplished was being valedictorian (yay me.. right?)
6. Who are 2 or 3 people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams?  What do you remember about their accomplishments?
• This one is a doozy... I'm not sure I literally "know" people who've accomplished their dreams.  I know a lot of peple who "do what they have to do to surive" (boring......).
• Maybe I'll talk to a few people who I think are living their dreams or at least doing something they love and come back to this one on another blog post (hmm.. yea.. I'll do that).
7. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
• I imagine me being free to do exactly what I want to do.. everyday.  Probably helping more at local church, traveling to see a new location a few times a year (with the future hubby.. yea! LOL), spending time with people I love.. lots of laughter, looking at my grown children who are creating deposits of success in their own lives and thinking to myself "wow.. I was an instrumental part in their development.. thank you LORD"
• In all honesty, if I get this whole "doing work I love" down & having a balanced life.. not much different from that except I might all together ensure I'm in a situation where I don't have to go to work.  Perhaps, if I have my own company.. leaving the day to day affairs to someone else that I've charged to carry the torch and just check in from time to time.

Well that's all she wrote.... hope you're enjoying reading about my journey as much as I'm enjoying writing it.  Talk back to me.. you think I'm staying on the surface.. you think I need to dig deeper?

Till tomorrow.. well sometime later today as by the time this posts.. it will officially be Day 5.. lol.. (it's the night owl in me.. what can I say?!).  I'll leave you with this.. EXPECT THE GREAT.. I know I am...