As I sit here after a hot, dirty, tough day of manual labor, having a beer (shocking right, me having a beer), I started thinking about my childhood and what I wanted to be when I grew up.
This will probably sound lame, but when I was a kid (5 or 6) all I could ever hope and dream to be was a forest ranger. Yep, you read that right, a forest ranger. A living in the woods alone, climbin trees, watchin animals, straight pimpin forest ranger.
I can remember arguing for what seemed like hours with my big sis, who wanted to be a lawyer by the way (which would have come in handy later on in my life), that forest rangers made more money than lawyers. I would get so mad at her and my Dad would finally tell her that I was right just to calm me down.
I mean, everybody knows that acorns and bears shitting in the woods pays WAY more than the measly $3k an hour that top rate lawyers make. Pssst....stupid lawyers.
Anyway, I tell that story to make a different point. At what point in life did we forget about what we wanted to be and settle for what we could do? I mean, I don't want to be a forest ranger anymore (still the coolest job ever), but I do want to BE a writer/poet.
Yeah I know, I know, I'm gay cause I wanna be a writer/poet. It's the simple fact that it is something I love and have a passion for, why shouldn't I be that?! Instead I settled to DO my current job cause it pays the bills.
I know that the writer/poet thing is not this manly thing that I'm supposed to do, (hell, I'm manly enough. how many people do you know hang 50 ft in the air trying to put a wire tie around tubing while tons of dirt and lint tries to choke the life out of you?) but the fact is, I'm great at it. Since I was 14 every teacher I have had has taken me aside to tell me so. Anyway enough about me, I'm still pursuing my dreams and luckily my wife and my Jesus believe in me.
What I want to know is what yall want to be? Maybe you are lucky enough to be what God designed you to be, and you are that right now. Maybe you feel that you were just supposed to be a mom or a dad (Lord knows we need some good ones), or maybe you want to do long division all day.
Who knows? The point is that as children we have this blind faith and belief that we can BE anything we want and then somewhere along the way we get conditioned to believe that there are only certain things we can DO.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? We are human beings not human doings. I am 28 and I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. I challenge each of you to name what you want to BE, and then to DO one thing each day to move closer to that dream.
(even if it is being the worlds richest forest ranger.)
God bless, and thanks for listening,
DangerRuss
4 comments:
When I grow up I wanted to marry a prince charming....thanks for helping me check that off my list ;)
The cool thing about writing is you can do it whenever, wherever you want. I've got a lot of friends that are writers, none of them is a sissy-boy.. Goodluck!
You know how I know you're gay? No, JK...but seriously, some deep thoughts you just shared with us friend. And I do hope that one day you become whatever it is that makes DangeRuss happy...after all, isn't that what life's about?
Well....first of all I have a little problem with you calling lawyers "stupid" in your blog. I personally know a lawyer who I think is brilliant and a great guy to boot. ;) I get your point, though.
I don't know exactly what it is that I want to be when I grow up...but I know what I want to do. I want to help people. I want to witness people making lifestyle changes that will ultimately make their lives longer and more enjoyable. I want to watch kids learn about health. I want to guide people into making better life choices and eventually watch them make those choices on their own. I want to give people a puzzle and watch them put together the pieces...and at the end of the day know that I've made a difference.
And on another note, I want to be a successful wife and mom...someday. (Lord knows I'm ready, just waiting for a certain someone to ask me...). And that's more important to me than any career ;)
Cheers,
Twig
Post a Comment