Today’s educational circles are all abuzz with the concept of finding a “meaningful” career. I just don’t want a job, I want something that rewards me in a financial sense and yet stimulates me intellectually and spiritually at the same time. To this end, the pedagogical system drives you forward at an ever-heightening rate of speed, upwards and upwards until you finally reach nirvana: the completion of your formal studies (BA, MA, or PhD). This certainly is one of the highlights of a person’s life. Sixteen or twenty years of study, excluding kindergarten, has been brought to a close.
The laurels, however, also include just a touch of trepidation, don’t they? What is the next step? Everyone makes it relatively simple: why get a good job, of course. Now “the pedal hits the metal,” as the idiom goes: the theoretical hits the practical. There are, in a vast amount of cases, no good jobs. You feel yourself caught in an uncomfortable quagmire with no easy answers — not like in school when you’ve chosen a subject, only to stop it when it proves to be too difficult or too much trouble. Now we are playing for real. You may find that what you were advised to study is useless to a fault. That realization is often concomitant with the discovery that this is not my true calling and there are few positions in the offing. Ouch! Let us back up quite a number of steps to the end of high school.
Increasingly the question is being asked: why do you have to study a specific field or anything at all, for that matter? In the case of medicine, dentistry, or law the answer is probably more succinct. Aside from these aforementioned fields, few people at 18 or 19 years old know what they want to do for the “rest of their lives,” and why should they? Life is not supposed to be some predetermined condition that we stumble into, get educated in, get a job, marry, propagate, and, ultimately, die: oh I almost forgot, and make and save lots of money. It is about adventure and living life to its fullest — your fullest, the unique and beautiful you! The world needs you and your contribution, whatever that is! This can be between a plumber and a brain surgeon.
So, take a chance on yourself, and why not? Explore, probe, what do you really have to lose, nothing? You have infinity, so fear of failure is the least of your problems. The biggest curse of getting old is not financial destitution but boredom: either to you or to others — to become a boring, bitter old person. Repugnant!
What we are not told is that the experiential period lasts a lifetime and is wrought with sadness and disappointment, and “perhaps” potential success. Anyone who has finally been good at anything has suffered and still continued on. The enigmatic sage, poet, philosopher, and politician Winston Churchill (1874-1965) leaves us with a thought: Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. (Parts of this essay were first published in 2014)
A closing thought: When you despair, remember the advice of the sages: never, never, never, never give up on you, your goals, and your aspirations! Why am I here? What is my mission? What happens when I leave here, where do I go?
To sum up: This week, we spoke about pushing on through the many tempests of life.
To be noted: There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind — C.S. Lewis (1)
Just for fun:
For reflection:
This week, on your thoughtful walk, please reflect on what an education has meant to your life.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Don’t be a wage slave – critical thinking is great!
Quote: The secret to life is to be wise and knowledgeable enough to be able to change your path before it drowns you in mediocrity.
Footnotes: