If you had your life to live over...........
 

Would you choose the same job, if you had the choice?

There is no question in my mind that if I had my life to live over I would be a physician.

I would change a few things, but not much. When I was growing up, we were poor and I really had no way to go to college. I finally found a way to work my way through, by working part time, joining ROTC, scholarships, and finally getting a full time job and finishing at night.

I was working summers during high school for a doctor who owned a large dairy farm. He had several hundred milk cows, race horses, and thousands of acres of farm land. He was a small town GP and had no children. He offered to pay my entire education if I would go to medical school and come back and take over his practice. At that time in life, I was tired of school and was dreading even another four years of college. The thought of eight years of college and internship, so about another twelve years of education was to much to contemplate. So I didn't do it. And for a few times during the following four years as I struggled to get through college I did regret that choice. But overall it turned out to be the right decision for me. I was more successful in business life then I ever dreamed possible, and made far more money then most doctors. Maybe I would have been very successful as a doctor also, but today looking back, I believe I made the right choice.

I think I would have prepared myself with more education than I did. Overall I would not change anything. I was medically disqualified from a job I love and went into a field I had no desire to be in. That with some effort has rewarded our family many times over. Life seems too have a way of working out without my thinking messing things up. Work Hard at what you are doing and make the best of it has worked for this old boy.

I would choose the same job,since it afforded me the opportunity to run my own company,but my focus early on would have changed.I would not have been so concerned about image and chasing the "almighty dollar," and spent alot more quality time with my family and friends.I've been trying to make up for those indiscretions over the pass decades, but it still bothers me that it took so long to get my priorities in the proper order.

Nothing
 

I am very bad about going back to play the old "what if" game...to change things that turned out differently than I had hoped. Fortunately my wife is very grounded and keeps me looking forward.

So with that said, even though I have not liked each step or direction my life has taken, the choices I have made brought me to this point - and of that, I would NOT change a thing. I have a good job, working with good people, a beautiful, understanding best friend (who happens to be my wife) and two absolutely wonderful children who are becoming great adults!!! I also have a home in TV to look forward to when we finally retire.

If I went back and changed any of the "bad" things, would I still have all the good things?

It is very enjoyable to read posts here and the responses. This is a pretty cool subject.

"Would (I) choose the same job?":

I've had several careers, though it was all through evolution: Started off teaching I.T./computer related stuff after finishing school.........which I left after a few years to do some analyst work........which I left after a few years to take a step backwards, just on the roll of the dice to get on board with a really good retail company - still doing technology stuff - where I could have the opportunity to grow (stayed for 10 years).........then rolled the dice again to go work with a former co-worker at a small start-up consulting company doing project management........that company ended up getting acquired by a global consulting firm - I ended up evolving into running the resource management side of a division of that business (stayed a total of 14 years)........then, in a flash of brilliance, I called it a day in '02 and walked (with proper notice, of course). Started my own part-time business which I've had for the past 8+ years, doing something completely removed from anything and everything from my past..........and I am having a ball.

Could I ever have envisioned my work life would've take the path that it did/has? Never. Would I change anything? Nope. Everything always seemed to fall into place (with some hard work along the way) - a lot of being "the right guy at the right place at the right time"......couldn't have hoped for anything better for Sandy and I.

Bill

Good question, Gracie. I think if I had to do it over again, I would have been a nurse administrator in a small town hospital.

I guess I could have made plenty of better decisions. I've mainly enjoyed my life, though. (Thank God for some selective memory)

I've worked outdoors for the bulk of my life and, for me, there was no better way. I would have liked to have earned more money to make my playtime more interesting, but I have little to complain about. I have a loving wife and 2 wonderful children who've begun to bless me with grandchildren; so I guess I wouldn't change a thing.

The icing on the cake? I was able to retire to my great neighborhood in The Villages and make some of the best friends I've ever had.

If I had it to do over again, I would have aspired to be a sports announcer. Being a sports nut, it would have been a dream job but then I probably would have worked until I dropped and never would have had the chance to be in TV with it's wonderful people. :)

Second choice would have been a teacher.

Graciegirl, interesting question because it is one we all have asked ourselves and some of us several times. To add an element to your question we all have had these forks in the road along our journey that have had a major effect on our lives. For instance I have written that my wife and I have been together since high school. However, I made a decision to quit schoolat age 17 and go in the Navy. I did not want my wife to wait for me and to interfere with her ;ife, studies, etc. So I broke it off in June knowing i was leaving for boot camp in August. The day before my departure my friends had planned a going away party. I was sitting on the curb that afternoon talking to my friends when walking down my street was my wife to be. I stood up walked over to her and invited her to my party. That same night a very rich girl from the other side of town made it clear she had great interest in me. I was very confused . My best friend walks up to me with his arm around both of these girls and ask me to choose. Well you know the rest of the story and during my entire enlistment my girlfriend wrote me and during my enlistment we married I was 19 she 18 . I finished school in the service, started colledge and following my dicharge finished college. If I had not spoken to my wife on that particular day we would not have continued our relationship and not married and all that followed. It was a good life and she wasand is a good wife. I chose wisely and made the right choices for me

These roads taken/not taken shape our lives. Think back and all of you reading this post will be able to pin point moments (decision) such as mine that dramatically altered your life even though the decision may have been a subtle one at the time

When people ask would you choose.... it all over again, I interpret that to be a form of mourning our youth. And I would be lying to say that I do not mourn my youth but we only get one life and we should not waste it on would if's, regrets, etc

I agree with this statement. A very smart person once told me that when you start playing the "what if" game, your intellect is gone.

Tough question for me. 19 months ago I would have said yes I would have chosen my same job since I was a stay at home mom (both my and my husbands choice) and had the joy of being with my children as they grew up; guiding them, playing with them and just being there for them. Now though I am not sure since my husband chose to leave me 18 months ago. I have no retirement of my own and no useful job skills to fall back on to provide a life for myself. I still don't think I would give up the time I had with my kids, but life would be much more secure now if I had had a career.

There are small decisions I might make differently with the wisdom of hindsight, but I would change virtually nothing. First, I would say that regret is the worst kind of wasted energy - it serves no purpose, can change nothing, and leaves you feeling bad. We are the sum of our experiences, good and bad, and to wish anything had been different would affect hundreds of things which happened subsequently.

For example; I wanted to stay in Fargo, N.D. after I resigned my job there seventeen years ago, and sometimes subsequently felt that I didn't try hard enough to find a way to stay. Instead, I took another job with the company I had been with for twelve years in St. Paul, Minnesota. My son Kellen was finishing his sophomore year in high school and was really, not surprisingly, beside himself about the move. We had many, many loooooong talks about the benefits of moving, and embracing change, and maturing, but he was mostly inconsolable. We moved to St. Paul in August and enrolled him in a private Lutheran high school, as we thought he would be able to adjust quicker in a smaller school. He started football practice the week we moved in, and he made several good friends right away (some of whom are still close friends). The first week in school he met Sarah and they started dating three weeks later. Sarah and Kellen have now been married for ten years and in January presented us with our second set of twin grandsons, their first (my daughter's twin boys are 15). Had we not left Fargo at that time Kellen and Sarah would never have met and William and Carson would not exist. I wouldn't change any of that for anything. I am a great beleiver in living in the present and planning for the future - now there is something I CAN positively impact. (Hope this doesn't sound like a lecture Gracie et al - there is no harm in wistfully dreaming how things might have been different as long as you don't wallow in some kind of self-pity or regret.)

Maybe I would be an English major.

Red Herring Boomer

no regrets here
 

I got to do exactly what I always wanted to do when I was a girl. I got to be a mom. I was home with my three kids for 18 years and I home schooled them for 10 years. Then, due to some job situations with my husband, I went back to work as a Registered Nurse. I have no regrets. I have been very blessed. Although, I have no regrets, I do think I would have enjoyed being a teacher. Sorry Boomer, I don't think I would have been an English Teacher though!

I to would be a Dr.

I thoroughly enjoyed my career field (computer programmer analyst) but I've always had an interest in criminal investigation and forensics. I know I would have been good at it.

I'd write music so beautiful it would bring tears and inspire listeners to kindness and greatness.

... But first, I'd have to be reborn with musical talent.

No...As I tell my grandchildren...you have so many talents, it makes my head spin!!

Not trying to hijack the thread...but is it possible for you to go a community college to get some job skills?

For me, I probably would have chosen to be a social worker.

Thank you. I am so glad things turned out for you!

Hi Gracie,

Just saw your post and wanted to take a few minutes to comment.

Would I change things about my life? Would I have studied to be something I am not presently? Well, assuming I am still the same person I am presently, nothing would have changed. I'd still be the same "me" and I'd made the same decisions. When I was younger, so many careers seemed appealing....lawyer, doctor, detective, business professional, but the studying involved in many of those careers wasn't what I wanted to undertake. Always enjoyed science and that's what I studied in college....biology. Dad had always wanted me to teach, but I wasn't sure it was what I wanted to do. Got my degree and then taught for one LLLLOOOOONNNNGGGG year.....it wasn't what I wanted. Haven't worked much in my trained field, buy my training has worked for me. It has helped me with family, friends, learning, understanding life, nature, teaching, learning to accept, disregard, debate, when to stand your ground and when to give in and go on, move forward. Life has been a series of adventures as well as mis-adventures, some funny, some not so funny, but again, I'd not change a thing.

I'm with you Gracie. Now that I'm in the medical field as a RN I would have loved to be a surgeon.

A different profession?
I consider myself the luckiest person in the world in respect to my profession. I was absolutely blindly led into it by the Hand of Providence! It turned out that I became an X-ray technologist. Maybe not a glamorous sounding thing to most people, but it sure had everything that I wanted. I loved studying the physics, anatomy, and physiology. I was fortunate to enter the field at the beginning of an explosion in area medical imaging technology. First they came out with C-arms tha could do flouro outside of the x-ray room. Then our hospital got one of the first CT scanners in our city, so I raised my hand to allowed to learn it. It was hard work, but again, I absolutely loved learning the technology so it was very rewarding. Then along came the first MRI scanners. Raised my hand again. It wasn't even FDA approved at the time and the average exam took close to 2 hours. Since then, the machines have gotten fast enough to do an exam in 20-40 minutes! Not to mention that these massive pieces of equipment can now see more detail and not just anatomy, but now function of the human body and mind. It has also been satisfying to be part of the saving of lives by being able diagnose disease earlier and earlier! Looking back, I see how privileged I was to be part of it all. We now have more MRI scanners in our city than the whole of Canada! We have people coming to the USA from all over the world to be able to access the cutting edge, life saving work that can be done by the phenomenal healthcare system that is ours to share! Ok...in short...I LOVE MY JOB!
Do anything different?
Taken life slower, not worried so much about how things would turn out, spent less money on stuff cause stuff just wears out, spent more time reading to my kids and baking cookies with them and listening to the hearts of my kids and spouse. I would have done more to help the helpless learn to help themselves, so that they could experience the joy of accomplishment, and the feeling of dignity after an honest day of hard work, and the freedom obtained by discipline and self reliance!
Do anything different?
Maybe a few things, but had I done everything "perfect" I would currently be a conceited, know it all, snob of a person who is out of touch with reality and certain unavoidable struggles of most other humans on this little blue planet. I am glad to be able to look back and see where I should have made a different choice, because I know that it is by the Grace of God that I made it this far...and I generally think that has made me an easier person for me to be have to live with :cool:

Hi KatzPajamas,

I just had to jump in here and tell you that I absolutely loved your post.

Your joy in your work in such an important field comes through loud and clear. I love it when people love their jobs. It sounds like you have a gift for science and you are using that gift.

Also, I tend to read between the lines and that's where I saw something more than just the science part. I bet you have made a difference in the lives of so many people throughout the years. I don't mean just because you know how to make those MRI's do what they do. I bet that you also are someone who is really good at making the patients feel better if they are anxious about the process of going through the MRI. And my next guess is that younger techs have learned a lot from you, including MRI-Side Manner. (It was the last part of your post that made me think all that. -- That's when the narrator who lives inside my head showed up.)

So anyway, thank you for your dedication to your work. It sounds like, for you, it was a true calling. We live in a time now where too many are choosing a medical field for one reason and one reason only -- that's where the jobs are. Practical? Certainly. But not the best for the patients. Medicine should be more than just a job.

But I also want to say that when I saw your screen name, my first thought was, "Oh I wonder if she is a designer of lovely, comfortable, women's pj's, suitable for wearing around the house all day if you happen to feel like doing so once in a while."

Yes, KatzPajamas, that really was my first thought. Like you were a pj version of Vera Bradley, maybe. Hey! Who knows -- could be a second career for you maybe............Uh oh, there goes that narrator.

Boomer, typing in the car again. (Mr. Boomer loves it that I have this iPad with me, but I know, deep-down he surely misses my helpful driving tips.)

:wave:Boomer, thanks for the kind words!

Hey I would be a surfer dude and just hang out at the beach and do nothing not work or anything

OMG I can do that now see you later surf is up

I posted this question out of interest, not out of wistfulness. Most people think a few thoughts about another career choice.

I am glad that I made the choices I made and the only change is that I would not have worried so much.

It doesn't help anything.

I am so grateful that it looks as if very soon we will be full time villagers and the very best part about that is that I hope to continue to enjoy all of you as friends.

Another example of why you are rightfully noted as a "Sage".

Enjoy your posts and your words of wisdom. Thanks.

Great advice - I needed to hear this - I am one of those "worriers" and you are right, it doesn't help. Time to enjoy life and focus on the important things.

I surely would have chosen a different career, as I didn't really have one. Taught for 2 partial years, but don't think teaching was really for me. Had various other part-time jobs here and there. When I did work full-time, it was more a job than a career. Interesting to me until the workload became overwhelming.

I was one of those "corporate wives" who moved 15 times during 27 years of marriage, then divorced, so yes, I have regrets, but also have 2 great daughters.

I think I might have been happy as a librarian . . . but I think I may have been born to retire - as a mostly stay-at-home mom (when I wasn't busy buying, selling houses and moving), I did have time to develop many interests that I can continue in or add to in both summer-time Ohio and seasonal Florida. I have met several people, mostly in Ohio, who don't know what they would do all day if they weren't working and are really afraid to retire. Some have retired and been fine, and others are "bored."