I Finally Know What I Want to be When I Grow Up

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Abstract

ago. I start a new job in a week, and I have a lot of fear and trepidation about this next position. This could be one of many stupid career decisions. In many instances, I have an impulse to go from the frying pan to the fire.You know the Chinese curse: “May you get what you wish for” That’s me.Eventually, I was working a job where I commuted across the Puget Sound on the Washington State Ferries; it’s one of the most scenic commutes in America. But, I was locked into a position I didn’t think would last the long term. I wanted to work for the business office. The kind of job experience that would push my resume to the top of the pile. Silly me, I left.I took a job at a rural hospital, way up in Snohomish county, over an hour each way from my house, commuting one day a week. They had a place in the budget for the position, and it didn’t matter if I did anything. But I did get some business office experience. Mostly, I was the Maytag repairman for five long years. I hated my job and was miserable. It was so bad I would drink heavily on my commute home. When I got laid off, I was ecstatic.In the next job, I spent several years working on business applications, GL, Payroll, AP, and AR, and I loved it. When that job dried up, I went back to being a generalist. I have jumped around a lot since then. It’s the nature of t

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he programming business and my restless soul.I finally have found a gig where I am the business office software owner. It’s a lot of responsibility, and it will be stressful. Closing the books for the month and the year and prepping for all the new tax code changes are all time-sensitive events.At the tender age of 60, I decided what I wanted to be when I grow up.I am going to take online classes and see if I can get a degree in finance and accounting. I enjoy it; I am good at it.I have always believed that life was one big learning adventure. I never cared to finish my degree in my teens and twenties. And then life happened: marriage, babies, a house, and a dog. The dog died, the babies are adults, and the marriage is over. It’s time to begin again.Maybe this ambition will be short-lived, but I like tying things together; I like wrapping up loose ends and feeling that all the pieces have fallen into place. And this feels right.Life is like a symphony with themes that come together: joy, laughter, heartbreak, sorrow, and friendship; how we deal with the disruption of ‘other plans’ makes all the difference.What will you do with this one precious life? <a href="https://medium.com/@stephanie.transg/membership">Subscribe to Medium</a>.</article></body>

A new job, a new life, a new adventure.

“life is what happens when you are making other plans” — John Lennon

I never really understood this. I always felt that life was what happened when you were not interested in making plans. When you were afraid of making other plans. When there were no other plans. When there was just living.

In my 20s, I dropped out of college with a raft of credits and no major to speak of, so I drifted through life, taking one crappy job after another. Eventually, I went to work for my brother’s law firm, which was still a crappy job, but I met my future there. It wasn’t my Ex. It was a computer.

In many ways, this system I have been on has been golden handcuffs, it pays nicely, but you are stuck. I still write computer programs on the successor to the IBM system I met 34 years ago. I start a new job in a week, and I have a lot of fear and trepidation about this next position. This could be one of many stupid career decisions. In many instances, I have an impulse to go from the frying pan to the fire.

You know the Chinese curse: “May you get what you wish for” That’s me.

Eventually, I was working a job where I commuted across the Puget Sound on the Washington State Ferries; it’s one of the most scenic commutes in America. But, I was locked into a position I didn’t think would last the long term. I wanted to work for the business office. The kind of job experience that would push my resume to the top of the pile. Silly me, I left.

I took a job at a rural hospital, way up in Snohomish county, over an hour each way from my house, commuting one day a week. They had a place in the budget for the position, and it didn’t matter if I did anything. But I did get some business office experience. Mostly, I was the Maytag repairman for five long years. I hated my job and was miserable. It was so bad I would drink heavily on my commute home. When I got laid off, I was ecstatic.

In the next job, I spent several years working on business applications, GL, Payroll, AP, and AR, and I loved it. When that job dried up, I went back to being a generalist. I have jumped around a lot since then. It’s the nature of the programming business and my restless soul.

I finally have found a gig where I am the business office software owner. It’s a lot of responsibility, and it will be stressful. Closing the books for the month and the year and prepping for all the new tax code changes are all time-sensitive events.

At the tender age of 60, I decided what I wanted to be when I grow up.

I am going to take online classes and see if I can get a degree in finance and accounting. I enjoy it; I am good at it.

I have always believed that life was one big learning adventure. I never cared to finish my degree in my teens and twenties. And then life happened: marriage, babies, a house, and a dog. The dog died, the babies are adults, and the marriage is over. It’s time to begin again.

Maybe this ambition will be short-lived, but I like tying things together; I like wrapping up loose ends and feeling that all the pieces have fallen into place. And this feels right.

Life is like a symphony with themes that come together: joy, laughter, heartbreak, sorrow, and friendship; how we deal with the disruption of ‘other plans’ makes all the difference.

What will you do with this one precious life? Subscribe to Medium.