I have been thinking about the year ahead and my path.  I have been a clinical social worker for more than 30 years, and it’s a hard job but rewarding.  I have considered leaving my profession over the years, but it always pulled me back.  I have built my career around helping others, but I also never stopped thinking about what I wanted to do in the future.  One of the reasons I continue to think about the future is that I don’t believe you have to make a choice and be trapped.  We always have options about what we do and what choices we make.  It’s scary to take risks, but we never stop evolving into who we are meant to be.

I have a lot of respect for people who are able to walk away from a successful life, to start over with a new job or in a new place.  Change is hard, and if the risk is financial people risk their security.  However, taking a risk can bring big returns.  People take a new position, go to school to advance a career, or start a new business.  They make choices to have children or not, get married or not, and sadly to also get divorced on their journey.  People decide how busy they want to be, how social, and how involved in their community.  As they get older they decide when to retire and how to keep busy after retirement. 

We make decisions every day that keep us on the same path or change our path.  It takes courage to make hard decisions and take risks with our future, but it can make the future brighter.  Around the 20-year mark, I was ready to leave social work and become a baker.  I researched opening a bakery, and it seemed overwhelming, but now I bake as much as I can.  I enjoy baking, it’s part of my self-care, but I decided that opening a bakery wasn’t the right path for me.  I must admit it was fun to think about.  I did have the courage after I finished graduate school to pack up and move across the country.  That move was the right move for me.  I think a lot about the choices in my life, and I know that they lead me to where I am now, but I also know that I have more decisions to make.

No matter where you are on your journey, know that you can make changes.  With some planning, you can keep learning, keep loving, and keep moving forward toward your happiness.  If you are where you want to be, enjoy your happiness.   If you need a change, find out what you need to do.  Think about the person you want to be and make it happen.

As we start this new year, we have options and choices about the person we are and the one we want to become.  If you are happy with your life, enjoy and share it with others.  If you are not, make changes and take risks to find a path that makes you happy.  Go back to school for something you will enjoy.  Take advantage of programs at work to learn new things.  Join a community group that creates new social opportunities.  The options are endless.  Have the courage to become who you want to be.  It’s part of being happy for life.