We get asked a million questions basically every day, right? (See, that was one of the questions right there. I’m tricky like that) Some questions are simple, some are complicated, some are funny and others are frustrating.
There are some questions that I have pre-arranged answers to, that I can answer at the drop of a hat. And there are others that can stop me in my tracks.
The following questions are ones that I used to have canned answers to and then I started dreading being asked because I have no idea what my answer is anymore:
So what do you do now? / Where do you work? / What are you doing now?
I’m just living my life, Sharon! Just kidding. Sort of.
Whether you have a full-time job or a career or a purpose or passion in your life now, chances are that there have been times, likely several times, when you may have panicked when asked those questions.
I know that’s been the case for me, at least. And while I don’t have a full-time job right now, I’m the happiest, most confident and most secure I’ve ever been.
I’ve lived a lot of my life by being complacent and going through the motions, but that’s not an option for me anymore, neither literally nor metaphorically.
I was meeting my husband for lunch the other day when I ran into someone I used to work with years ago. After exchanging hello’s, he asked me where I was working now.
My immediate reaction was to shut down, panic and scream, “I don’t know! Nothing!” because I’m sick of being unemployed. I’ve wanted to have an answer to questions like that for months, but no such luck yet. I hate not having an answer to that, and I wish I did.
I didn’t realize how much I wanted to have an answer ready to go to those types of questions until he asked me this a few days ago.
At first I felt like a failure because I didn’t have a simple and direct answer, and I hate having to explain that I was let go from my last job and am looking for something new, even though that’s the truth.
That’s exactly what I told him, though, and I could tell it shook him up a little bit because that’s not a standard or easily digestible answer. But maybe that’s good because I don’t want to live my life with only standard and easily digestible answers.
That situation made me realize how much I’ve defined myself by my career in the past, and now that that’s not an option anymore, it’s a strange feeling.
I have no idea what my career is, which is both terrifying and exciting. I don’t know who I am now in many ways, and having to rethink and redefine myself has been jarring at times.
But I’ve decided I’m not going to let those questions or my career, once I figure out what that’ll be, define my life anymore. I am so much more than what I do for a living and a paycheck. And so are you.
I used to be terrified of questions about careers and life in general, but not anymore. I’m no longer letting those questions hold power over me.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
