Jobs are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. At least, that has been true for me. In this time of despair, I thought it would put me in a better mood to reflect on everything I have wanted to be when I grow up. It is quite comical and all I can say is, I am what I am. Luckily for me, Clint knows me better than I know myself so he is never shocked when I decide a new fate. I will say that I have always wanted to be a writer. The only problem is, I have to help pay the bills until my book gets published. This is light-hearted and intended to help me sleep better, so please do not take it too seriously. Also, while I may sound over-confident, I'm really not. I think anyone can be anything they want to be if they work hard enough and want it bad enough. I also believe you have to have those two ingredients or you will never succeed at anything.
My first career choice was to be a taxi driver. I wanted to drive everyone around and figured it was a safe way to talk to strangers without getting into trouble. Keep in mind I could barely talk when I wanted to do this. Laura wanted to be a garbage man. We dreamed big. The days of the Moser girls being a taxi driver and garbage man passed fairly quickly and we were on to different occupations.
We had Career Day at daycare and I decided I wanted to be a dog catcher so that I could save all the homeless puppies in the world. My daycare teacher encouraged me to be a veterinarian instead. For the next several years, this was my dream. Laura decided on Career Day that she wanted to be an actress.
I discovered writing at fourteen and secretly hoped one day my poetry and short stories would be published. I was encouraged by my Dad to keep writing but to go to college and start a career in something more tangible. Laura was encouraged to go to L.A. to become an actress.
In junior high I was taking guitar, clarinet and drum lessons and for a beginner, I did show talent. I decided I wanted to learn how to write scores for movies. My parents encouraged this because of how easily music came to me. I lost my drive to learn to play musical instruments when I discovered boys and I traded in lessons for a social life.
When I turned sixteen I begged my parents to let me get a job. I wanted to be a bartender. I settled for a hostessing job but studied the book of bar tending any chance I got. Believe it or not, I thought I would go to bar tending school and be a bartender through college until I could become a veterinarian. I got my chance at bar tending without having to go to bar tending school. I liked bar tending because I was able to talk to people and it was a fun atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's not really an atmosphere for an overly sensitive girl who thinks she can solve every one's problem with a smile and a free round of beer.
At sixteen I also discovered my passion for driving as I flung my best friend and I into a mountain at over fifty miles per hour. We were not injured too bad and this fueled my desire to be a NASCAR driver. I started watching NASCAR races, invisioning myself taking home the trophy. My Dad put the brakes on this.
My junior year of high school I enrolled in modeling classes. I enjoyed modeling but it never turned into a passion. That was also the year I thought I wanted to be a divorce attorney because they are always in demand.
My senior year of high school I applied to LSU and was accepted. I wanted to attend LSU because they have the best veterinarian program. It was the only college I applied to and when I got my acceptance letter I could actually see my dreams of becoming a veterinarian come true. My Dad more or less told me that I needed to stick close to home because I would never make it as a veterinarian. He wasn't being mean. He thought I was too sensitive to handle the deaths of dogs and in a way he was right. I shadowed at a veterinarian's office and it broke my heart. I didn't have the insight then to know I could overcome it and I decided to attend UCA and major in Business because it was a safe field that would open doors. Plus, besides writing, I didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to be.
This is also when I met Clint, so he entered my life at a very entertaining stage. Let's see. I wanted to be a Financial Advisor until I barely passed Accounting and I figured I probably shouldn't be handling other people's money.
I wanted to be a country singer and was so convinced I could do this I started looking at apartments in Nashville. I enrolled in singing lessons. I took two lessons and was told I could not carry a tune in a bucket. I resorted to singing the Quizno Subs theme song and karayoking You're So Vain. I also practice rapping all T.I. songs.
I thought about being a plastic surgeon and got a job during college at a cosmetic surgeon's office. I loved this job because I was able to observe surgeries and anything with the human body fascinates me. I found out you have to go to school for around one hundred years before becoming a surgeon so that turned me off pretty quick. Plus, I was half-way through college and didn't really want to change my major.
I wanted my own talk show because I fancy myself a person with excellent reasoning skills and common sense. I thought I could give Oprah a run for her money.
I decided it would be fun to work in Marketing with my girlfriends at MailSouth. This was my first job out of college and to this day it has been my favorite. I learned a lot and gained the confidence needed to do well in a fast paced environment. We were laid off or I believe I would still be there.
This is when I decided it would be fun to be a Commercial Broker. It's not. It's also male dominated and I tend to shy away from male authority figures.
For some crazy reason I decided I wanted to be a teacher and teach high school English. I don't even like kids that much. This required going back to college and since I was lucky to get through it the first time, decided this probably wasn't the best route to go. I shouldn't want to be a teacher just because they have the summers off.
I became a registered dental assistant. I enjoyed this job but you are heavily micro-managed in this field and I really can't stand that.
I thought it might be nice to be a house wife. I had visions of a clean home and shopping excursions that left me exhausted. My body would be my job and I would spend all my extra time at the gym. I would cook every night and it would be the perfect job. Yeah, right. If I wasn't able to write for most of the day, I would absolutely go insane. It is nice to be at home with FLEX but I feel like I'm wasting my life.
Oh, I decided I would flip homes. Real estate interests me but there is too much of risk. I'm not a risk taker if you haven't figured that out by now. That marked becoming a real estate agent off the list as well.
What's really sad, or entertaining, however you want to look at it, is I fully believe I can be any and all of the professions I have described. I'm lacking the desire. I have worn many hats in the professional world and I am only twenty-five. I'm sure Clint can point out other career paths I forgot to mention but you get the idea. As with all things in life, I have learned a very valuable lesson. We are not measured by the size of our paycheck or the job title on our resume. We are measured by what we do with the jobs we are given. I have never been afraid to go out and get what I want. I have also swallowed my pride and backed away from professions that were not right for me. My current situation is hard for me to understand because I'm not in control. It doesn't matter that I have a college degree or a strong work ethic when the economy is in the state it is in. I know that God will lead me to a job. I believe I have to be patient, which is not my strong point.
I look to Laura and Clint in this area in my life because they are two people I am close to that never make excuses. I could go on for days on how proud I am of Clint and what he is doing with his professional career. I could do the same for Laura. She will succeed as an actress because it is where her heart is and she has the work ethic to make it. I think their unspoken motto is "Just Do It". Laura is quick to tell me that my book will sell and whatever I do in the meantime is secondary. Clint is like me in that he wants me to be the best in whatever I do while I'm waiting for a publisher to dial my number.
Whatever my next job is, I am going to make it my dream job. I will go into it with no excuses and I will make it work to the best of my ability. It may not be a glamorous job but it will be fulfilling. We can all do or be anything we want to be. All we have to do is work hard enough and want it bad enough. The hard part is figuring out what you want while you are waiting for your dreams to come true.
