© 2024 Rachel L. Shumate | All rights reserved.
What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a common question posed to children. (Though I’d venture to guess that most adults asking that very question still have no idea themselves.) When I was a kid, my answer was that I wanted to be a taxi cab driver when I grew up. If you know me at all, this is positively hysterical and utterly ludicrous because as an “adult” (I use the term loosely) I have the absolute worst sense of direction (I seriously can’t find my way out of a paper bag), and I’m frequently late for everything (okay, fine… I’m always late). So, me dreaming of wanting to get someone to their actual destination and on time, to boot, is an effing riot!!
As you can imagine, my taxi cab ambitions were met with amused astonishment and less than enthusiastic encouragement by the adults in my life. To be honest, I think I just wanted to wear a cool hat. Now, my friend on the other hand, had already learned the (supposed) “correct answer” to this question. She would reply that she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer – which was met with loads of praise from every adult she encountered. Of course, neither of us ended up being the things we’d proposed ever so long ago.
The latter is usually the case, but it’s fun to reflect back on what your 10-year-old-self thought they wanted to be in the world. I like to keep this in mind when my daughter passionately professes that she wants to be a Maine Coon cat breeder and an animal rescue person, with hordes of animals living in her house. I am careful not to squash her dream, though she and I do laugh about how bad her house is going to smell. (Sweet mercy!) Also, I secretly and sincerely hope she never wants me to house/animal sit for her if she actually sticks to her plan, because it’s going to be an absolute zoo.
How about you? What did you want to be when you grew up; and are you doing that now…? I honestly think that it’s an important question to ask ourselves on a regular basis, no matter what our age might be. (Please pause right now and ask yourself this very question, then reflect for a bit…) As we grow older, wiser, and know more of the world, we should consider whether or not our life’s work is in alignment with our hopes and dreams. Maybe you started out wanting to be an engineer, but realized that you actually prefer working with your hands, and decided you’d rather be a construction worker. Or perhaps you were encouraged to go the lawyer or doctor route and halfway through higher education, your heart wasn’t in it because deep down, you have a creative soul. It’s okay to change your mind. As it’s been said, you’re never too old and it’s never too late… There are so many possibilities and versions of yourself that you can become. You can reinvent yourself at any time and as often as you like. It’s only natural for our interests and passions change with growth and time.
So, if you find yourself considering a pivot, or are secretly wishing you’d chosen a completely different career path, I’d just like to say that I’m giving you a great big virtual high five and cheering you on. Life is way too damn short to not do something that you enjoy. Go all in on your dream. And if your kid suddenly tells you that they want to be something outrageous like a baton twirling trash collector, please just tell them to go for it. (Actually, encourage them no matter what it is.) If they somehow end up still wanting to attain this dream when they grow up, it will certainly add some excitement to the occupation.
I’ll close with these wise words…
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ~ George Eliot
“You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” ~ CS Lewis
🙂
