when i sit and think about my close friends, it seems like they have one thing in common, and that is a desire to help people. a lot of my friends happen to be in the service industry - not like waiting tables, but like "serving" - as teachers, counselors, veterinarians (or vets in training), nurses, etc. and those people are the ones i understand best.
i think it's interesting that a lot of my close friends are people i've known for a long time, that i met through school or church. and we don't sit around and talk about the "old times"; we make new memories, even if we don't have a ton in common anymore.
i'm excited to be teaching again soon because (other than working at the vet), that has been the only fulfilling job i've ever had. and the ridiculous thing is that i could make TONS more money doing other things, but they never make me happy or make it worth the feeling that i'm not doing all that i can with my life.
jobs that demand a lot from us emotionally, often require long hours for insufficient pay, and leave me at least wondering "man, if i wasn't spending so much time working, what else could i do to be of use to mankind?" but i guess that's just me being lazy, because i could definitely get up off my butt and go help some more people if i really wanted to.
a lot of andrew's friends, or friends i've made through andrew, are very smart and/or talented people who've made a good place for themselves in well-paying occupations, frequently in "corporate america", and they are extremely nice, caring, and generous people who seem to have found occupations they enjoy. which is awesome.
but i wonder, what does that say about us? what do our friends say about us? and moreover, what makes someone a service industry person while others should be corporate people? and what draws us to those like people?
people sometimes say, "those who can't do, teach." i say, i can do a heck of a lot more than most people - and i have! - i just prefer to teach, otherwise how would anyone else ever "learn to do"?
7 comments:
I'm SO proud of you regardless of your occupation! But I know what an amazing teacher you are, and the huge impact you make in the lives of those children you touch. Keep that in mind when the hours seem long, the pay too low, or when the times are tough : )
I did it again! The first comment was my first draft, the 2nd was the edited version, and I can't seem to delete the draft! silly me, sorry about that!
there, i did it for you! but now it looks like you were cursing or something hahaha "removed by the blog administrator"
"This seems to somewhat assume that one can be defined by one's job or perhaps you're saying defined by one's friends' jobs in this case"
actually no, that's exactly my point, i'm not saying anything like that but rather posing questions. why is it that my friends, who i met on my own and have kept in touch with, tend towards these occupations, while other people gravitate towards friends in other occupations. it is in no way an assumption, but rather an observation. one i thought worth pointing out.
Ok, so here is my understanding, take it or leave it. You have chosen friends (chosen being an important word here) that have similar job characteristics as you. This is partly because we like people who are similar to us, they make us feel like we fit and we’re not aliens and weirdos (technically speaking). However, we don’t like people who are too similar because they threaten our idea of self, our identity. Throw it all together, we like people who are similar, but have some differences. The thing that attracts us most is people who share our values. This is what makes relationships last and keeps the world going round (figuratively of course because it doesn’t literally there’s something about gravity in there). As someone who has studied and done some career counseling I can confidently say that values are an important part of job selection. So a person’s profession should reflect that in some way. If it doesn’t, they become unhappy with their job and frustrated with life (hello New York & Co.).
PS I am awesome.
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