Did you all have a great 4th of July? Do any reflecting on the first half of the year? What came to mind?
As I was watching the fireworks show over the Hollywood Bowl, I was thinking about how just last week I was reminded of the truth behind the old cliches, “you only live once” and “life is short”. I thought about how much those cliches tie in to Careers Out There and how important finding the right career fit is so you can really thrive and enjoy what you do every day. After all, once you hit the age of 25, life starts to fly by….fast. Just like we’ve all heard our grandparents say, it literally does start to become more of a blur every year.
The recent death of my cousin Eddie helped to drive this point home. Eddie was 88. Over the past year, old age was starting to take over his body and slowly rob him of his independence. First he needed a cane, then a walker, then a wheelchair and then a live-in nurse. He was growing depressed as the decline was taking place. As much as I hated seeing him go through this, my first thoughts were, “You’re old! You’re 88! If not at 88, when did you THINK old age was going to start to kick in!?” During his funeral last week, it dawned on me that if someone who is 88 can be thinking that the inevitable decline is arriving depressingly soon, it can only confirm one thing: life goes by too fast. One minute you’re finishing college, the next minute you’re 40, suddenly you’re 60 and then you wake up to find that you’re 88. In your head, you’re always that shiny, new college grad….but your body and the world around you keeps changing. Seeing how fast all of my post-college years have flown by, I now understand how 88 can arrive in the blink of an eye (assuming checkout time doesn’t arrive sooner).
We spend at least 5 of our 7 days every week at work. If we’re not enjoying our careers, we’re just burning away all of those days….and we never get them back! Sure, maybe the paycheck is good, but when we suddenly find ourselves sitting in that wheelchair at 88, do we want our life’s reflections to suggest that 5/7 of the journey was lame? Sitting at a funeral for someone who lived life to the fullest and had no regrets was a great reminder for me of the “you only live once” cliche.
To make the most of those days that will be spent at work, finding the right career fit is important. Keep in mind that whether trying to discover your strengths, or choosing a college major or working at finding the right career fit, there is a fit out there for everybody. We all have special skills, strengths and interests that can be matched with work we enjoy whether we’re social media specialists, janitors, chefs, architects, nurses, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, musicians…..the list goes on. Think about what you want to do with those 5 out of 7 days…let us help you here….and then be sure you go for it….because after all, you only live once…and life is short.
Do the cliches of “life is short” and “you only live once” help to drive you to find the right career fit? Now that the second half of 2010 is already here, how will you renew your focus in finding the right career fit?
Image courtesy of Madmarv00