Last week I mentioned a magnet I bought at Rockin' Rudy's in Missoula. It reads "It's never too late to be who you might have been." This conversation continues in my group of friends, particularly my writer friends but not exclusively.
It took me a long time to realize just because I can do something doesn't mean I should. Seth Grodin wrote a blog post about this , click here to read it.
I put myself through college waitressing and then after graduation, went into restaurant management. I liked the people I worked for and with. I enjoyed the fast pace and the myriad of responsibilities.
I switched to child care after having our first child and then to teaching preschool. I now earn my paycheck as a Professional Development Specialist in Early Childhood Education. I often wonder if I accomplished this career track intentionally. Did I mean to work in this profession for the past 15 years? Or did I find myself here by default?
One consistant theme persists, I love to teach. This part, I believe, was intentional. But now that I've written my first novel and I'm completely obsessed with writing another and another, it makes me wonder about my true path. I find myself considering my options and who it is I "might" become. Have you heard of Anything You Want by Derek Sivers? I read it.
Derek describes how he created CDBaby into a company worth millions and then sold it when it wasn't fun anymore. He sites Timothy Ferris as inspiration. Does that take courage or does it take focus?
Some might say that particular choice Derek made was sheer stupidity, but I disagree. In my mind it takes guts. To take a leap and forge into the unknown is far more difficult that adhering, day by day, to the status quo.
I want to be surprised by each day. I would like to see each morning bring to me something new and unexpected. But where do I find courage? Where did Derek? Was he born with it or is it something each of us can cultivate?
I walked into Fact and Fiction, on Higgins Avenue in Missoula, three or four times between June and July 2011. I planned to ask to speak to Barbara Theroux and see if she would put my book on her shelf. Each time I walked back out without speaking to anyone.
A good friend sent Ms. Theroux the link to this website. She contacted me and she and I met. We scheduled a book signing on September 10th at Fact and Fiction during the Saturday farmers' market. This feels remarkable. It feels surreal. With this one accomplishment, I find more courage each day.
I usually hold my tongue. I don't tell folks I run into or meet that I wrote a novel. Today I told Sara, who runs the Orchard Homes CSA program for Garden City Harvest, all about it. For the first time, I wasn't embarrassed.
What about you? Are you the person you "might have been"?
It took me a long time to realize just because I can do something doesn't mean I should. Seth Grodin wrote a blog post about this , click here to read it.
I put myself through college waitressing and then after graduation, went into restaurant management. I liked the people I worked for and with. I enjoyed the fast pace and the myriad of responsibilities.
I switched to child care after having our first child and then to teaching preschool. I now earn my paycheck as a Professional Development Specialist in Early Childhood Education. I often wonder if I accomplished this career track intentionally. Did I mean to work in this profession for the past 15 years? Or did I find myself here by default?
One consistant theme persists, I love to teach. This part, I believe, was intentional. But now that I've written my first novel and I'm completely obsessed with writing another and another, it makes me wonder about my true path. I find myself considering my options and who it is I "might" become. Have you heard of Anything You Want by Derek Sivers? I read it.
Derek describes how he created CDBaby into a company worth millions and then sold it when it wasn't fun anymore. He sites Timothy Ferris as inspiration. Does that take courage or does it take focus?
Some might say that particular choice Derek made was sheer stupidity, but I disagree. In my mind it takes guts. To take a leap and forge into the unknown is far more difficult that adhering, day by day, to the status quo.
I want to be surprised by each day. I would like to see each morning bring to me something new and unexpected. But where do I find courage? Where did Derek? Was he born with it or is it something each of us can cultivate?
I walked into Fact and Fiction, on Higgins Avenue in Missoula, three or four times between June and July 2011. I planned to ask to speak to Barbara Theroux and see if she would put my book on her shelf. Each time I walked back out without speaking to anyone.
A good friend sent Ms. Theroux the link to this website. She contacted me and she and I met. We scheduled a book signing on September 10th at Fact and Fiction during the Saturday farmers' market. This feels remarkable. It feels surreal. With this one accomplishment, I find more courage each day.
I usually hold my tongue. I don't tell folks I run into or meet that I wrote a novel. Today I told Sara, who runs the Orchard Homes CSA program for Garden City Harvest, all about it. For the first time, I wasn't embarrassed.
What about you? Are you the person you "might have been"?
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