Your Job Title Does Not Define You

I've never worked in a cubicle space and I don't ever plan to. I aways thought that by this time in my life I would have a great career and be really happy with it. But I don't and most of the time I'm ok with that. I've learned more about myself in the last few years than I ever have. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I'm doing and it really freaks me out and other times not knowing what I'm doing feels pretty damn good. 

I used to think having a killer career was one of the only ways to prove yourself in life; prove that you've made it as a real adult. In our society, job titles have come to define who a person is. I've learned that by defining myself by what I do for work rather than by who I am as a person I am putting myself in emotional jeopardy. By losing touch with who you are, coping with life transitions can be even more difficult. 

When I moved away from my home town for my partner's new job it took me over a year to find a job in my desired field. A year is a long time, a long time to beat yourself up and a long time to feel sorry for yourself. Finding the right full time career job was putting serious emotional stress on myself. No one was going to lift me up out of the funk except myself so I had to find other ways to kill time and essentially redefine myself. Turns out that sometimes the best ways to find yourself is to lose yourself, to get completely lost. 

According to some psychologists, the brain needs regular vacations or breaks from life. This means taking a step back from everything around you to have the opportunity to discover new things. It will help us access stimulating scenarios where we can discover more about ourselves and who we essentially are. This period of lonely unemployment was a forced break for me, one that was probably overdue. 

If you took a snapshot of my life the past few years the best of times have been outside, sweating up the side of a mountain with good friends thinking I would never make it to the top. I took the pressure off myself recently to have an awesome career defined by society and to just do me, whatever that may be. I think we should all go through the process of understanding and defining who we are and not just what we do for a living. However you make a living just remember you are bigger than and not restricted by whatever your job title says you are.