Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Winding Path of Life

Two days ago I blogged about the choices in life...how one path almost always splits into another path. Yesterday I spoke with a mentor at work about the choices in life. He told me a story about when he was newly married with his first child's arrival impending. He lost his job; out of nowhere he was fired. He had no idea what he would do. The following day he searched the classifieds for a job. He was drawn to a teaching position at a local vocational school, even though he had never taught before. Within the week he was hired and teaching. Now (years later, his children grown and moved out) he is (and has been for quite some time) a successful professor. His point that he shared with me is that if the door had not closed on his old job, he never would have opened the door to his career. If he had not been fired, he would not have looked for a job in the paper, he wouldn't be teaching, he wouldn't be doing what he loves.

And now I'm in a position to make door opening and closing decisions. Today I've been considering a choice that hasn't been truly evaluated before. It leads down an entirely different path than any I've considered. It is also a scary proposition...but if successful I would have 100% job satisfaction. As most readers know, I am insanely nutty about party planning. Both of Savannah's birthday parties have been planned months in advance and I already have the next two years of parties planned (well the Monkey party is planned, theme chosen for 4th Birthday - CandyLand). So it would be a natural fit for me to begin planning parties for other people. Wouldn't everyone love a career doing what they love and getting paid for it?!

The idea to focus on planning events really isn't new to me. When I was in high school I used to consider becoming a PR specialist or an event planner...but as I got nearer to college I felt I had strong abilities in math and science that might be "wasted"...so I got my degrees in engineering. I think one reason I love my current job is because I'm basically an event planner...just not parties, but science fairs.

So now my decision becomes tri-fold. Of course, I wouldn't quit my job and begin a new business all at once...I have some serious thinking to do. Business plans, really hashing out several themes for birthday parties, baby showers, gender reveal parties, bridal showers...developing price points and all of that. It would be a lot of work...but it would be something I love and am passionate about.

God does create paths for us...he certainly has led me down some unique ones...and I may end up where I had considered beginning all along...

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