Discussion: What do you want to be when you grow…?

Friday at Sundown: May 8, 2020

We ask children between the ages of 5 to 10 years old, “What do you want to be in life?” They have an answer. I believe at that age our answers were closer to our true destiny. As I was growing up, boys wanted to be a doctor, a cowboy and their favorite was “I want to be an astronaut.” Girls were told what careers to choose, “a secretary, a nurse or a schoolteacher.” Through the decades, it has given us a voice to make our own choices..

Technology has advanced our “what I want to be” and for females we have broken the glass ceiling. Gender is no longer the focal point for careers. Men are nurses and women astronauts. Still, the fields not level for everyone.

We have used titles as coverings. Being unable to express or believe what we perceived inside us, we can do. A label we hold on to while struggling to find a way to reach what we know is true for us. Meyer-Briggs was a two day’s course I took years ago. The outcome of the testing unveiled my life purpose should be a social worker, a teacher or preacher. WOW! The test explored my inner self through questions, puzzles and games (somewhat remind you of childhood activities), establishing these were the areas I should seek in my life. In reality, it pulled back most of my covers.

I’m sure most have written out their dreams, the thing that brings a smile to your face. Thoughts moving from your head, touching your heart and settling in your stomach waiting for a delivery date. Unrest has caused many to pursue temporary solutions to fulfill their deepest desires. Do we ponder on the “I could have done, I should have done” and let us not forget the “what if” moments when you sense the emptiness? “I want to be a cowboy.” What did the little boy see? Did he see someone adventurous, a trailblazer, someone tough, a champion? As a grown man now, who is he looking out an office window? Is his thoughts whisper “there has got to be more to life than this?” Did the little girl abandon the choice made for her to be a secretary” and became CEO of her own company?

Life can disappear under covers. What are your covers or coverings? I will venture out to say, what may control most and covering us is our… alarm clock! An alarm clock, what? Okay, right! I realize it took a moment for me to get to what I wanted to express this evening. I needed you to think with me as we look into our lives. Many lives have been good and you are living the life you want to live…. Congratulations!

Now, let’s discuss the alarm clock theory. We set the alarm clock each night, the one sound waking our physical body each morning. Though for countless, the inner self sleepwalks throughout the day. Let’s keep in mind; an alarm clock starts your actions daily, your life each day.

Time, life and destiny starts each day as a warning… an alarm. The word alarm means a sudden fear, outcry, signal for attention; this starts our day. I prefer to consider that this may not the case for many, but for others it has been a dreaded sound each morning. Take a minute to consider your life, as a child, reflect what you wanted to be when you grew up in life. What does your alarm signal to you each morning when you hear it ring? Is it the sound success, is it the sound to let you know you are on schedules meeting your goals or does it cause you to hit the snooze button? On Monday morning, think about it right after you hit the signal, I mean your alarm clock?

Thank you for joining me. Friday at Sundown… just breathe.