What were you born to do?

Summary

Wendy S. Bradfield reflects on personal introspection and the search for purpose, ultimately choosing happiness and meaningful experiences with loved ones over professional pursuits in the Netherlands.

Abstract

In a candid article, Wendy S. Bradfield discusses the existential question of one's true calling, admitting uncertainty about her own. She shares a recent experience where she embarked on a supposed work-related road trip to the Netherlands but found herself grappling with feelings of being a fraud and a lack of fulfillment from solo travel. This introspection led her to recognize the importance of sharing happiness and the joy of experiences with others, prompting her to return to Portugal. She concludes with a renewed perspective on life, valuing happiness over financial gain, and acknowledges the potential impact of her story on others.

Opinions

Bradfield values authenticity and mystery in her writing, choosing not to distinguish between reality and imagination.
She believes in the natural emergence of opportunities for growth, as suggested by the proverb "when the student is ready, the professor appears."
Bradfield experiences a shift in her enjoyment of solitary travel, realizing that happiness is enhanced when shared with others.
She confronts feelings of impostor syndrome during her journey, questioning her decision to work abroad.
The author prioritizes personal happiness and the potential for love over professional success and financial wealth.

What Were You Born To do?

Wendy S. Bradfield KTHT Prompt: What were you born to do?

Photo of the Author with his permission.

I’ll be frank with you, (as I’m always am), in my articles, in my stories I never say what is real or created by my mind, there’s a little mystery in that, and I love that.

I don’t know the answer to the question above and probably never know. I just want to live my life doing what I like, maybe that thing will help someone, if yes, I’m glad. But I don’t focus on helping others, “when the student is ready, the professor appears”.

Let me tell you the story of my supposed road trip to the Netherlands to work, it happened this current week.

So, last Monday I was supposed to start my journey and started, but the moment I tried to remove the steering wheel blocker on the van, he didn’t want to leave, but “a tropa manda desenrascar” (it means, the troop tells us to get rid of, it is a Portuguese proverb, but sounds better in Portuguese, it means, basically, we have to do what we have to do), so I did, and started the journey 45 minutes later, it was okay, no rush.

During the trip, everything was going perfectly, well, almost perfectly; I’ve felt I was being hasty, I didn’t have the feeling I used to have when on a road trip alone, so, after 600 km, I stopped in a hotel to sleep, and I only could sleep for a few hours, because my mind started to wander.

I started to think I was a fraud (maybe impostor syndrome), and what the hell am I doing? Working in the Netherlands, am I serious?

So my mind, (as tricky as she is, and that’s why I love her so much), showed me how I’ve changed; and I finally understand the true meaning of the quote “Happiness is only real when it is shared” I realized that I no longer enjoy traveling alone as much as I did. So I needed to travel back to Portugal and start living new experiences with the people I love, maybe “the one” is just around the corner.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it, as I said above if it helps, I’m glad. And for now, I see life more clearly than I used to see, and this is priceless.

By the way, I choose Happiness over money.