Wisdom of the old for sale...

Have you seen that episode on Oprah where she was discussing the finer qualities of people on their 50s?

The self-help guru on her show pointed out that one of the things to look out for when people turn 50-ish, is how their perspective shifts along with their quality of life. Apparently, people in their 50's take time to appreciate things in their lives more - some even resorting into changing careers which are not so much on the financial gain perspective altogether.

They further argued how when you were on your 20's and 30's, you seemed to be always running around. Trying to please someone else, or being more concerned with what other people expect of you.

They go on saying that as you go into your late 40's to early 50's, you somehow wise up and end up putting more weight on what you want and what you think is best for you and again, not so much about the financial angle.

I suspect that for the most part, these observations are truthful. But at a certain extent, it is also wrong. I think that the problem for those in their 20's and 30's is that they are more concerned about getting ahead in their careers, and not necessarily what careers they wanted to be on. Again, it's all about the financial angle here.

People often find themselves switching careers on their 20's and 30's, trying out which best fits them, with the most consideration being given to how much it's in for me...

This is where that sense of insecurity and staying motivated comes in. Starting all over means they have to learn or develop another skill, and master an entirely new lifestyle that comes with it.

They tried their best to do so, and often times in the process, gets frustrated and hop into another career... The cycle generally goes on until they realize that they're too old, or too stubborn to start all over again, and ends up being unhappy because of the lost time and energy they've given up during each jump.

It's pretty difficult to find someone whose from the start, already knows what he/she wants.

I guess its all part of growing up.

Like a child learning how to walk. As soon as he/she does, they start learning how to run, then jump, then climb, then cartwheel... and so on.

But this still doesn't seem to do justice to the predicament in question.

So how do you break away from the madness? Pick out a career and stick on it?

Not an easy proposition as you might think.

In retrospect, I also had that moment. That time when I begin to feel I needed to find myself. That is still my situation right now. Having to go through several jobs (and if you can call it, career paths), I'm still no where to decide which one I'd retire on.

It's not an easy thing to pick out one job and stick to it till your all gray. But I do know some people whose done so. I admired this people for their resilience and how they sustain their gist.

But when you do talk to them, you'd find out that they also have to go through several "jumps"of their own during their younger years.

I think for most of us, it's more about the experience which makes one better judge when to actually say, that hey, this desk is for me...

I'm just hoping that when it did happen to me, that I'd be on my mid 30's, so I can enjoy what fun, if there ever is, would be left around thereof....