One of my favorite movies (children or otherwise) is the animated feature, Hoodwinked. In the movie, Little Red Riding Hood comes upon a goat who is always prepared. He sings a fun song about it:
During his song, an avalanche takes place. This catastrophic event causes the goat to change his song saying he didn’t feel prepared but alas, all ends well for him. The last we see of him he joyfully proclaims, “I was prepared.”
As I settle into nearly my third year since a total change in my career, I find myself thinking about that goat. I recently changed employers and the downtime between the two companies gave me a lot of time to pray and think and finally, I had to be honest with myself: I don’t want to do this job for the rest of my working life.
The problem is, however, that I am unprepared. When I look at available careers, especially one that would pay at least comparable to what I currently make (and need to make as the sole provider of my large family) there is nothing out there. I would have to start over. Again. And most likely, before starting over, I would need some sort of training or certification.
I spent the first half of my life preparing for the wrong things. I have a lot of knowledge. A specialized skill set. And no way to apply it to anything meaningful or useful. I’ve been hoodwinked and now, despite 3 degrees and a multitude of years both in the private and non-profit sectors, I am not prepared.
Three Taverns Brewery 