Seneca Says Hold On

Last week, I celebrated one of the best birthday weeks I can remember. Tuesday, I met up with an old friend who is in his medical residency in Ohio. We talked about his engagement, old times and the changes we face in our late twenties. We also talked about his stalled bollywood project. That is an inspiring tale on its own but, for another time.

Wednesday, I went to the Taste of Texas with some friends and family. I did my best impression of myself at seventeen when I tried to eat a thirty-two ounce steak.

It took me the next two lunches to knock that one out.

Thursday, Dana took me to the Grove at Discovery Green. We ordered some dishes we had only seen on Top Chef. The duck confit and skate wing with preserved lemons were awesome. I can feel better now when I berate the Top Chef contestants with a bowl of Easy Mac on my lap.

Friday was the most fun. I was apprehensive to meet up with some friends at Beaver's Icehouse because I haven't really seen anyone since I left South Texas. I thought my friends would be disappointed and that I was going to take some sharp criticism. As usual, I didn't give them enough credit.

It seems my friends and I are navigating through the same mid-twenties wilderness. Many of us are finding that our careers were not enough like the way we envisioned them. Some of us aren't as willing to make some of the sacrifices we thought we could make. Like our happiness.

These times don't make it easier to see beyond money. Every morning I watch a news anchor reporting on the hottest jobs or the most stable job markets. Yesterday I wondered if I was well enough enumerated to be a software engineer (no way in hell) and this morning I was convinced that I needed to go to court reporting school. When I was eight, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. Can you wear an Indy hat in court. No, no you can't.

I don't think anyone at this age should feel bad if they haven't found what they've wanted to do with their lives. The adage is true, if you can't find what you like, then find what you don't like. The important thing here is to keep moving and to no be paralyzed if you can't see the horizon.

"The greatest loss of time is delay and expectation, which depend upon the future. We let go the present, which we have in our power, and look forward to that which depends upon chance, and so relinquish a certainty for an uncertainty."
-Seneca

Some career resources:

10 Winners in the Recession - USA Today

Best Small Businesses to Start in 2009