It is not a secret to anyone who knows me that I have spent the last few years struggling to find my place in the world. What is super weird is that up until 2009 I had spent my whole life on a direct path, in fact you could say I always knew exactly where I was headed. And then seemingly overnight, I lost my way (or maybe it is more appropriate to say I began to find my way). I veered off course and have been taking a series of new paths, most of which have dead ended, ever since.

Who knew I was heading off in search of my encore career; where I could make a living while making a difference?

Yesterday as I was turning away from the non-fiction new releases shelf at the library, with three new books under my arm, I felt a weird sense that I was missing something important. I scanned through the new titles seeing nothing relevant. Just as I was about to give up, The Encore Career Handbook, by Marci Alboher and its very relevant tagline “How to make a living AND a difference in the second half of life” jumped out at me.

I had heard the words “encore career” from someone a few weeks earlier and hadn’t yet followed up on the lead. So finding this book was a sign for me. And sure enough from page one I felt an immediate sense of relief that I was not alone and I wasn’t going crazy (or worse yet), having a senior moment.  There are others in the world like me, possibly 31 million others according to the book, who are currently in flux and in search of meaningful work. In fact it is fast becoming the new normal for those of us in our second half of life.

To those that attempt to label older workers I suggest you stop trying to quash us. Quash: to put down or suppress completely, to subdue; set aside. I cannot speak for all over 50 workers, but I can say that I am far from done. The book has given me hope that I can, and will, figure out my next move.

I am not an old dog. I can be taught new things, in fact, I am anxious to learn. I will make money and make a difference. Quite possibly my encore “job” will not be labeled a job at all, but rather a “purpose”.

There is great power in purpose, and in numbers. Look out, world-- as soon as those of us in search of our encore careers find our way--we will proudly be showing off our tricks.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

My Second Half of Life

Links:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/27/you-can-teach-an-old-dog-new-tricks/45219.html

Welcome back to The Question of the Week.

Question #2 is:  When I Grow Up I Want to Be  a____________________. (But there' s a twist).

Think back to when you were a kid. What kinds of activities did you play the most? Do you remember telling people what you wanted to be when you grew up? Given a wide open opportunity to do whatever you wanted, what did you choose to visualize yourself doing?

I believe that when we are kids we have an innate sense of who we are and what our individual strengths are. I think we gravitate to activities that are easy for us, and that we are good at. What role or roles did you play act as a kid? Did you see yourself as a nurse, a doctor, a dancer, a teacher, a fireman, an engineer, an actress or a rock star? What did you ideally want to be?

Last spring I had the pleasure of visiting my sister's fourth grade class. She let me ask them a question, and I asked if anyone knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. So many kids immediately raised their hands I decided it would be easier to go around the room and let everyone have a chance to answer. Almost every kid had a clear idea of what they wanted to be when they grew up, and were excited to share it. I was floored. They made it seem so easy. I realise now they simply chose from their  strengths and gravitated toward what came easy to them. I have to admit, at the time, I found myself a little envious of their clarity.

It was also  interesting to me that they didn't all choose things that were unrealistic, like being movie stars, dancers or rock stars, although there were a few of those, they mostly chose things like veterinarian, doctor, engineer, artist, and at least one boy wanted to work with computers. Occupations that were not only possible, but plausible. It was awesome. And very telling.

So what happens to our early plans, why do we give up on our dreams? Why do we change our minds by the time we get to high school and then again when we arrive at college? Maybe we all need to take the time to think back .

Write down what you remember spending time playing as a kid. What did you like best about those roles? Think about how you view yourself (your skills and personality) now and ask yourself if those early roles were a good fit for you? Were they a better fit than what you are doing now?

In my early years I played a secretary (organized), a teacher (in charge ) and a newspaper reporter (curious writer). By the time I got to high school I had changed my mind and wanted to be a psychologist, an archaeologist and then a television anchor.

Obviously I became none of the above. And yet if I look at my skills and my personality, I realize I align more with the roles the younger me chose. In some ways I have come full circle back to them. If I could choose a new path for myself, tomorrow, I'd be a writer, a teacher and/or a project manager.

I'd love to hear what your memories are telling you. If you feel like sharing, please leave me a comment.

Until next week....

P.S. Are you joining The Question of Week for the first time? Click here for last week's question, or click on the Question of the Week category for an explanation and all related posts.

Until recently I would have said, sure I am. Because I was happy in most areas of my life. My husband is rockin' cute, I have more material things than I really need (including a cottage and a boat) my kids are healthy and mostly happy, I have fantastic friends and a super cool extended family. But something still was not quite right. When I said I was happy, something was missing.

For one thing, I had lost the passion I had once had for my job. Now some people say you don't have to have passion for your job, it is after all just a job, a way to pay the bills. And maybe for a while I even convinced myself that this was true and I could handle that. I reasoned that I needed to make money, and could not afford to make a job change and take less than the level I had already achieved, even if it meant I'd be happier.

Luckily for me I came to my senses. I made a change because I realized that being unhappy at work was slowly killing me. It was sapping my energy and attracting negativity back to me. So, I made a switch.

Since the day I quit, I have never looked back. (Okay there was that one day when I was sure I could not handle the pace, but besides that, I have been super sure of my decision!)

Ask me now if I am living a happy life and I will answer with a huge "YES, I am Happy!" because I am now operating on all cylinders.

Passion, purpose + happiness.

I have a job that I love, reasonable goals to achieve to satisfy those I work for, and better yet, a sense that I belong with, and am welcomed by my colleagues. My opinions are considered, my ideas are at the very least given an audience, and best case scenario will someday be utilized. That is a dream come true for me! Combine that with digging the people I work with and for, and you have a recipe for happiness. For me anyway.

Having that happiness makes a huge difference in how I face each day. Postitive attracts positive, and I not only say this, I totally believe this. Because it has happened to me.

Reconsider my question... are you living a happy life?

And then, if need be, don't be afraid to make some changes in your life.