It's My Birthday!!!

Today is my 31^st birthday! 

What a difference a year can make!! What’s the difference you may ask???? Well…..

I have clarity.

Throughout my 20s I was not living, but instead I was trying to create a life that would please (and impress) other people.  As I have stated many times on this blog, I have an “A type” personality who has to live by a to do list.  However my “to do” list consisted of unrealistic expectations of a person I truly wasn’t.

This past year I have focused on me, who I was and what I wanted out of life.  I eliminated my goals and instead I am now focusing on my passions.  I am learning to no longer beat myself up over the failure of one career path and instead enjoy the journey of the new one that I am now pursuing.  Most importantly I am now re-examining the relationships with family and friends and slowly trying to introduce them to real Neka as I get to know her as well. 

I am at a point in my life where I have the knowledge to know that EVERYTHING in my life has been working together to lead me exactly where I am at today and exactly where I need to be today.  Since coming to that realization, I am now focusing on my “purpose” in life.

Once I turned 30 I refused to take any of that stuff with me in my 30s and so far I have been doing a good job getting rid of it.

On this new found journey I am on, I have found that I have no idea what to expect and truthfully I am scared shitless…. LOL…

Nevertheless I am learning that things don’t happen overnight and instead of focusing on the end result, enjoy the ride getting there.  Therefore that is what I am doing (or shall I say learning to do), enjoying the ride!!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Day 4 of the 30 day blog challenge: Dream Job

I sat and thought about this for awhile and I couldn't pinpoint one particular career path. 

Being that there are SEVERAL things I want to do, I know one thing I do not, and that is work NINE TO FIVE.  I am currently living that life and it is not for me.  I don’t know if I could take another 10 years of living for the weekend.  What kind of life is that?  One that I do not want!  Below is a picture that I look at that keeps me focus on the ultimate goals:

Business Entrepreneur.  

Ever since I was little I knew that I would eventually own some sort of business.  My maternal grandmother owned her own nightclub.  She drilled in me two things: 1) Have my own money and 2) Purchase property.  That has stuck in me.  Now I have no plans to own a club, but in the next 3-5 years I do plan to have some sort of business venture as well as invest in real estate with the plan of using the property as rental income. Do I know what type of business I want to have?  Umm… Sort of, still toying with several ideas. 

Clinical Social Worker/Therapist.  

I feel that I resisted going down this path since the end of my freshman year of college.  Nevertheless I felt that I needed to go through and experience all that I did in order to be a sufficient counselor.  While determining what my purpose in life is and the positive experiences I am having (in counseling), in some way I feel the need to pay it forward.  While pursuing my previous career path, I now know that there was no “passion” for it.  Merely that it “looked” good and I like feeling that I wouldn't be average.  Smh….. I look back on that time and view it as my body having a negative reaction to the path that I was going on.  The side effects of it were depression and weight gain.  Now that I have an idea of what I want and to know that I have a passion for it, everything is clearer now.

Professor. 

My reason for being a professor is somewhat similar to wanting to be a counselor/therapist.  One is that I can do both at the same time and they have flexible hours.  Next I love the idea of being paid to think, write and discuss an area that I have a passion in.  Being that I love anything reading, writing, researching and can tie all that in to social issues is wonderful.  However most importantly, just like with being a therapist, I like the idea of nurturing clients/students and watching them take hold of their confidence and grow with it. I see myself as MelissaHarris Perry without the TV show (have no desire to be on television).

Writer.  

When I was little I use to create my own books and magazines.  I would sit there and “create” articles that interest me and make my mom and grandmother read them.  As I got older I put the dream aside because like everything else, there were no writers around me so I believed that it was something that “other” people do; not some girl from “some town” Louisiana.  Being that I never told anyone of my love of writing and never pursued or worked on it, I told myself that I should give up on it because, “you are no good at it anyway” (see how the mind works and play tricks on you??). Now that I am actively working on it, I would love to one day be an author of fiction as well as nonfiction.  

What about you? Do you have a dream job?

TOMORROW: How important you think education is....

Bucket List: CAREER

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family, fitness and financial goals.  Today I will discuss:

CAREER

• GET A DAMN JOB.. A REAL ONE! (sorry, but I am really passionate about this one... LOL)
• Obtain my MSW, LCSW, and PHD
• Take courses in Grant Writing
• Obtain my real estate license in LA, MS and GA
• Create a non-profit organization
• Become fluent in Spanish
• Become conversational in Japanese
• Become a professor
• Become a franchise owner
• Earn the Microsoft Office 2007 Master Certification 

Now that I have identified my financial goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.  

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Thursday we will discuss my goals for......PERSONAL!