What path would you have taken….
If you could turn back the clock and choose a different career path what would you choose……..I know the opportunities were not readily available years ago……you very often left school, got a job, got married…….jobs a good un……or were you able to achieve your chosen career in later life………myself, I would have taken the path of interior design and counselling……..love to know how peoples minds tick tock…….and it is still not out of the equation …..
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Oh it is that word “if.”………tried and try really very hard not use it…
I was one of the lucky ones told everyone what I was going to be in infant school and made it in the end…took me a long time and some pretty awful jobs but there was learning and good in all of the rubbish along the way….even fell out with my Dad ‘cos he said what I wanted to do was not a “proper job”
Don’t feel like revealing what I did actually do….. yet …perhaps some time in the future.
Love other people,s minds too….tick tock…everyone is pretty amazing in their own way if you look and listen.
I made a mistake early on when instead of going to art school I followed a friend who had enrolled in a stenotype course. This was the machine used to manually record court room transcripts.
I never used it in a court but only as a means of taking down letters for secraterial work. Shorthand could have done the same.
I wound up marrying early in life and only later went back to college nights in order to get the art training I could have had early on.
But it all worked out and I wound up in my chosen field. Moral of the tale? Don’t let anyone deter you from your path.
You got there in the end Gael, so all came good…..xx
IF we had a pound or a dollar for every time we uttered “if” we would be quids in……….gypsy I am amazed that from such a tender age you knew which path you wanted your life to take career wise………..despite opposition you never lost sight of your goal……….and now you have me intrigued as to what it was you actually did………I wait in anticipation for the big reveal……..xx
starlette, So many options were actually closed to me or closed due to actual access or other reasons. Such a shame. Many options opened up later than normal. I and most women played the “wind beneath the wings” bit but I made great homes, cooked extrvagantly and was a teacher, guidance counselor and legal assistant, and several other occupations. How are we to know when we were denied access to so much.
This is why I ask the question Rose……….in earlier years we do not always know what we really would like to do job wise, tis only as time passes that we become interested in certain things and think to ourselves……….yes I think I would have enjoyed doing that as a means of earning a living…..xx
Just turning the clock back doesn’t seem to be enough to me Star. If I had known 40’s ago what I do know now I think I would have done something different. But better??
My consideration to this question of yours goes this way; those people who look into the rear-view mirror will hit the tree. Definitely! xxxM
Michael…well put….that what I was trying to say with “what if”
“If” usually means a regret.. rambling now…..need coffee.
I agree Michael regards looking back………but was just wondering who had been lucky enough to work at what they loved….xxx
I would still have followed the path I did, but with one small change. That change might have saved a lot of nightmares.
Such a shame Way that nightmares are the pay off for working at something you enjoyed……xx
I always wanted to do something with writing-originally my ambition was to become a journalist….I left school with good exam results and had a series of jobs. All my friends had gone on to a Catholic teacher training college….but no way I wanted to teach…..
Then suddenly…..wham! I decided I wanted to teach-quite desperately. I was accepted by Durham Universtity… …got my first teaching post and that was me for the next 30 uears….loved it, loved the kids…
Over the years teaching changed, and the more I progressed in my career the further away from the kids I got. And I didnt like it. Then came the directives….you couldnt cuddle an upset kid….you had to interview them with your office door open…I left.
Now, I write for kids…and for a little village paper…and I’m a very happy bunnyxx Glad I was a teacher……but think I’d loved to have been a journalist!
So maize, the personal touch as it were was denied, sign of the times I’m afraid…..but you were happy in your work up until all the policies and procedures were rewritten………you still keep your hand in, and writing can be so rewarding……..xx
I had always wanted to be a nurse but never followed thru. I also wanted to work with hearing impared/disabled individuals…ended up being a civil service worker for the State for 28 years. I was in Customer Service so I at least did work with people which I loved. Who knows where I would be if I had followed thru with my original plan. I do know at this point I wouldn’t change a thing in my life. I have an absolutely wonderful son and he has blessed me with 5 incredible grandchildren…any chance of not having that wouldn’t be worth any change in my past!
28 years in one job sweets is a long time……..so I guess it’s safe to say you were happy doing what you did……….xx
This discussion has suddenly brought this old quote to mind:
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier
Star, gave this topic a lot of thought. If truth be told I really had no ambition to be anything when growing up the only thing I had in my mind was not to follow my dad down the pit.
By accident I ended up in what was then called H M Customs & Excise and spent 38 years with them. Had many wonderful times made lots of friends met a women who I married and spent 36 years with her and never regretted one minute of all those years as a Customs officer.
I consider myself fortunate to have had a career which I enjoyed without looking back and saying if only.
So that was a good accident for you Pat……..not only were you happy in your career, but had the good fortune of meeting the women who was to become your wife…….all kinda fell into place didn’t it……..x
I always wanted to be a female Perry Mason a Lawyer, .. did other study and trades but never got the opportunity to go to law school, would have been too compasionate anyway to be a Lawyer…. but never mind you asked I SAID ,,, LOL
Always had an inkling for that path myself Lani……..would have certainly kept the grey matter ticking over….xx
as for me well l was ducking and diving for years, then a t 30 and a bit l decided to go into films and tv as a propman, was it worth it, my friend was right never never no regrets loved every min and still help my oldest son who has a prop company yep he still has me working some times, maybe l wasnt that bad as a propman after all lol
Must have been a very interesting line of work John, a look behind the scenes, many a story to tell I would think, and great memories………..good to know your son is still keeping you on your toes……..lol xx