Life Lessons from a 40 year old gal who has yet to decide her major

Life lessons. That's pretty lofty. Perhaps I should have aimed lower. Nonetheless, here we are. The three of us.  I hope the two of you who will read this will take away at least one practical tip, dare I say a life lesson.

I suppose there are a few things you should know about me right from the gittyup.  I'm a 40 year old woman, from the Midwest, transplanted to the East Coast, married, one child, full-time employment (we'll drill down on that dry well later), and I abuse commas and semicolons.  You're just gonna have to get used to it; I love the little suckers. Oh!...and I think most would categorize me as sarcastic.  As I write that word (sarcastic), it made me realize how little I use my sarcasm out loud in my daily world. I think I'm more sarcastic when I write and certainly very sarcastic in my head. I don't use sarcasm in my professional setting and it's not that useful in parenting and maintaining a healthy marriage. So, it may be more accurate to say I aspire to be more outwardly sarcastic....look at me, aiming high again. 

So here's the deal.  You could say I'm a late bloomer, at least when it comes to major adult-life rites of passage.  I got married when I was 35 and had a child when I was a couple weeks shy of turning 37.  By most standards, or at least the Midwestern standards with which I am most closely acquainted, that's showing up a little late to the party. 

And I'm tragically late when it comes to declaring a major.  No kidding, my major was officially "undecided" when I entered the venerable Ohio University in 1988.  (I'm gripping my keyboard at the moment in an attempt not to launch on an OU pride tangent, which I will resist, but buckle your seatbelts for a trip down Bobcat memory lane in the not-too-distant future.) Before or during the beginning of my sophomore year, however, I declared "advertising" in the school of journalism my major.  And I'm glad I did.  Mainly because I don't believe in regrets and can't think of anything else that would have suited my innate interests and inclinations better.  BUT! I'm not working as an advertising executive, media planner, creative director, etc. And during my senior year I decided I wanted to be a therapist (do I hear stifled giggles out there?)...Anyhoot, I ended up earning an MA Psychology and guess what!!?  I'm not a therapist either. Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone all the way....it was the damn research and statistics, unavoidable. Not to mention the cost. Geezlouweez

And it's not really about declaring a major because I suppose I've declared a few in my 16 years of full-time work experience.  It's really more about sticking to and "living" that major. It's a major decision (pun fully intended)

I can't help but think of Oprah's advice to discover what you love to do and just do it, and the success and money will come.  Easier said than done Miss O, but I must say I've had some good times trying to figure it out...And that's where you and this come in.  It just struck me that I should come up with a mission statement of sorts for this blog, but informally and right now, I'm going to try to share some of myself.  Mainly my identity as a woman with an evolving career; someone seeking a profession or vocation to be passionate about; my identity as a working mom, a wife, a daughter and a friend.  My identity has shifted significantly since becoming a mother and, as corny as it sounds, I think I'm a path to rediscovering myself.  What I'm really hoping is that I'll figure out how to offer some REAL value to anyone who finds their way to this.  That's going to be the challenge. Delivering the goods......But, the good news is that that's one thing I consistently like; new challenges. Because every time you switch your major, you've introduced a new challenge...So, game on.....