What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I posted this at another forum, too- but I am so interested in folks' answers that I wanted to post it here amongst one of my fav groups of folks, too!

I recently watched a fantastic `Oprah' re-run and saw Maria Shriver talk about her new book: "Just Who Do You Want To Be?" It's a book recommended to graduates from high school, college, or anyone at any age finding themselves with questions about personal fulfillment and "finding one's place" as they embark on open doors and cross-roads in life. It's about mastering feelings of fear, doubt and uncertainty- taking leaps, and making the right decisions to bring about the most fulfilling results.

We all lead private lives and if anyone doesn't want to share- of course we all respect that... but if you care to be open, what are some of the professions we among us have made our life's calling? How/where did we start? What second and third careers did you progress to, and why? How have you "reinvented" yourself over the years? Anyone abandon the law-office to become a potter, or a monk? Anyone go back to school at 30, 40, 50, 60? Anyone leave the class-room to teach bungee-jumping from a cliff in Colorado? Abandon a career to do the noblest thing in the world- give birth to and raise children? Any guys opt to do the raising of the babies and the running of the household, so the wife could fulfill her dream of working outside the home? Please share!

Brought up in the kitchen; taught; worked in the food industry all my life; taught; run accounting offices; accounting and payroll business; taught; ran restaurants; taught - including teenage prostitutes, rehabilitated drug addicts and reformed (?) ex-cons; caretaker for family; worked my a.s.s. off - now it's time for me.

Do as I please, come and go as I please.

Presently working on returning to the food industry in another form of insanity.

Heck - ain't dead yet!

LOL

Being as I ain't never gonna grow up it's a silly question.

lol.....I never wanna grow up either ! That would be boring !
Great Topic though.
My greatest accoplishments was giving birth to my two kids.

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

by the way - you're body ages at the same rate every day - from the day your are born to the day you die - and that is the truth.......................

you just learned something new today................

I know you gotta be right mama, but why in the helll does my azz feel FAR older some days than others, then? Ha-Ha! Maybe I need more chocolate of cheeseburgers or ice-cream in my system?

I grew up, grew old, and now I'm going back to being young again in a different way.

I grew up in a military family, graduating High School in Taiwan, college in Indiana and somewhere during that period I put in 12 years in the Navy, 2-1/2 years dealing with Vietnam in ways you don't want to know, with education and training before that in electronics and building/maintaining nuclear bombs (hard to find a civilian job with that background). Got involved in the moving business; then into the legal profession; and then in to building low-income housing for the elderly. Along the way a thing called a computer chip was invented and I got involved in playing with that in my spare time, building (wirewrap) my first computer in 1976.

There's not much I haven't done, including racing on the Indy 500 track, being a pimp (for 2 weeks), an International Playboy and photographer, and such other fun things. Now family is gone; funds are gone; figure is gone; and I live a quiet life on Social Security preparing for the next life and dealing with some of the hardships we will face to get there.

Time to enjoy the simpler things again and enjoy life from a different perspective.

Interesting life, CanMan... thanks form sharing! Man- you've done many fun & diverse things!

Other than a paper-route, and field-work on farms as a yonugster- all I'd ever done was cook until 2 years ago when I left kitchens and got this new gig w/ this huge mega insurance giant. My current work w/ them is passionless and gutless for me- BUT it's PERFECT in that finally I'm now working a gentle, low-impact 38-40 hour week instead of 80+++ hours, and also for the first time ever I've got a personal life outside of work... so it was more than a fair trade.

I got a chuckle outta your two week stint as a PIMP! Ha! I myself have always been an aspiring exotic-dancer or Hula/Belly-Dance teacher! Hee-Hee! I guess I've just got this thing about feathers! Only thing that stood between me and "So You Think You Can Dance?" was my 350 lbs.! Those baztardz who screen contestants just couldn't believe that a guy with my physique could be light & graceful on his feet- but I'll show THEM! I've got an audition for ""America's Got Talent" next week... Ha-Ha!

You guys sure live some kinda lives, and here I thought my life was long and humorous and a real soap opera at times, you make me feel like a Nun!!

Oh by the way that is what I want to be when I grow up, yep a Nun, and I mean it too!!!

chubbyalaskagriz said:

I got a chuckle outta your two week stint as a PIMP! Ha! I myself have always been an aspiring exotic-dancer or Hula/Belly-Dance teacher!

Click to expand...

You got me on the hula/belly dancer. I did get snockered one evening in a Waikiki nightclub and got coaxed out on the floor to dance by one of the Go-Go Dancers (that's a way to old age thing) and ended up winning a dance contest (everyone watched her). The final song was SHOUT by the Isley Brothers. Click on the link if you want to hear it and then imagine it being extended/repeated by the DJ for well over 30 minutes! I was sober when we finished.

As for the pimping, I was in San Francisco as a young sailor, living in a cool apartment off Haight/Asbury with 5 other buddies, and met up with some ladies from Berkeley who were doing some "side work" to pay for school. They needed someone to handle their affairs for a couple weeks while their guy was out of town (or in jail?). They trusted me, so..... No, no frreebies were offered. Hey, I'm a nice guy.

LOL...you guy's are a Riot ! I've never done any Hula dancing but I have always wanted to learn to Belly Dance.....I love to dance and go everytime I can coax Hubby into it !

Just Dance Like Nobodys Watching! Cookie

I want to be a Nun too, Cathy... my only dilemma is- do I wanna do that before or after I tackle belly-dancing, and Swedish massage? Hee-Hee!

Actually- to take it a step further... I'm NOT an exhibitionist or anything- in fact, as a big guy, I'm pretty body-shy.... but one of the things on my life-long list of aspirations is to be a nude model for an Art Class! I figure if I ever reach that place where I'm comfortable enough to strip down to my Timex and be oogled at by a crowd- THEN I will have reached the epitome of "total personal comfortable body image"!

>that is what I want to be when I grow up, yep a Nun<

It's ok to make outrageous comments, Cath. Just don't make a habit out of it.

Sister Chatty.

Yeah, that works. Reason they are called nuns is because that's what they get. And I reckon you have far too much passion for that.

But, oh lawd, do you have a new nickname now.

Everybody say "hi" to Sister.

lol...No Streaking allowed here griz...now you remember that !
We will have to sick Mama M on ya !

Howdy Sister Cathy !

RE: "But, oh lawd, do you have a new nickname now. Everybody say "hi" to Sister."

Well, Brook, w/ the controversial stuff going on within the faith community these days, I doubt that Cathy in a Nun's get-up will tarnish the church's image TOO much!

Now, now boys & girls I really do hate to get my ruler out! Sister Has Spoken!

KYH I think you are probably right about the reason I never took on that habit! LOL

And I simply can not believe we are talking about Belly Dancing and such, for pity's sake this is a food forum......of-course with us all being such great "foodies" we could all use a few good belly dancing sessions to keep our bellies in shape...BYE I'm off to classes now..................LOVE BELLY DANCING come to think of it now I think I'll change my degree when I grow up....I'LL become a Belly Dancer, that will make Eddie a little bit happier I am sure! Hey thanks ya' all for helping to shape my future career. I think ya' all need to become Career Counsellor's when you grow up!!! hee-hee

Cathy- how's Whoopie been?

(I just loved you in 'Sister Act 1 & 2'!)