A Swift Kick in the Pants.

It's funny how when things don't turn out the way you wanted them to sometimes it's better.

Recently, I didn't get something I wanted at work and it sent me in a spin for a few weeks. During that time, I started thinking about what I really wanted and what skills I have that I'm not utilizing in my work. For example, I am very creative and my job doesn't necessarily lend itself to that (although one might argue counseling 18-21 year olds takes a huge imagination)!

I also was recently passed along the book "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it! In this book, confronted by a terminal cancer diagnosis, Randy Pausch talks to his students, colleagues, and his children about pursuing your childhood dreams. If you are true to those dreams, he argues, you will be most true to yourself and happy.

As a child, I dreamed of being an author, an astronaut, a poet, a fashion designer, and a socialite (okay, this was pre-Paris Hilton... I knew I just wanted to throw fabulous parties and dress up and be rich, not be scandalous and make sex tapes). With the exception of astronaut, which I could probably never have done since I could never fully grasp Calculus or Physics, they are all creative pursuits that I still wouldn't mind dabbling in.

Now, as I move forward, I am just starting to realize all the reasons and possibilities that are opening up when I didn't get what I thought I wanted.

It just took a swift kick in the pants to get me moving.