Happened to read this while waiting for my flight to meet a customer. Late in life I have decided to make a a sharp career turn. I took pride in being a generalist and for years moved between different but somewhat related roles to have broad understanding and skills across them all. It got to me to a point where it was no longer possible define who I was or what I could do - to say just about everything can be in scope of my role sounds borderline ridiculous. While that is accurate it confuses the heck out of folks specially those who have not been around long enough to understand what I am saying is actually reasonable and logical.
I had been seeking more definition and structure in what I do everyday and think I may have finally found it. I had a strong structure in my role as a parent to J until she left to college. So it did not matter that my work life was very chaotic - I had my center and it kept my afloat. Now that role has morphed to the point of being very fluid and lite - to the point that it it hard to tell what exists. This removed all traces of organization in my life and it was only then that I realized how much I craved and missed it.
It took a few years to put the puzzle pieces together of what was bothering me. Friends and family were happy for me and some expressed concern about taking such huge diversion at my age. Reading the story of this man who went from being an auto mechanic to an doctor close to fifty made my adventure look incredibly tame even boring. But it gives me hope that I will land on my feet and do okay.
Going back to school can be tough for any adult student, but Allamby says that being older helped him remain focused and helped him recall the family who was counting on him to succeed. And succeed he did. In 2022, he began his first job in an emergency room as an attending physician.
I have not done anything nearly as dramatic as that but on my scale of things it is big enough change and even to have attempted that feels very liberating.
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