Choosing the Career to Ride

Picking a career to follow in life is like choosing what to ride in an incredibly huge amusement park with a guaranteed, but unknown time limit.

You wander through clusters of laughing people, and explore the various winding paths. Maybe your spirits are high because it’s all new, and exciting. Then, Taa daa! Before you stands a some shiny, grand roller coaster. Perhaps this is you choosing to be a singer or even an artist. It has thrilling ups and downs and some fantastic loops. Of course, you’re not the only person waiting in line. Several people want a chance to board this breathtaking adventure. So, you stand there, and you can’t wait to get on. You wait and wait, only to find out that you aren’t tall enough to board this coaster after all. Basically, you were not a hit in the music world, or art was not your cup of tea. So, the search continues.

Again, you search high and low for the best ride you can find. Suddenly, you see this amazing ferris wheel with bright lights. The bright lights might be how well the career pays. It seems absolutely glamorous at first glance. You soon board the ride, and it begins the journey upwards. The ride is dreadfully slow, and it seems awfully long. Looking out the window, you feel time slipping by like a snail. As it turns out, the work is dull, and uninteresting. Finally, the ride ends, but it was not as fulfilling as it first appeared. You hurry to get off and seek something better.

You wander about. The hunt for the perfect ride seems to stretch on and on. You decide to get on the teacups. They spin about, and the children in them look so happy. You soon get on. Perhaps, this is you looking into being a teacher. The screaming and laughter cheers you up for a bit. Then, the ride starts to move. It gradually gets faster and spins more. Your stomach begins to churn, and the world becomes overwhelming. This career was not the picnic you thought it was. It is all too much, and you get sick. Some fellow riders help you off. You’ll never try that again.

Now, as you delight in the momentary joys of an ice cream, you meet other people in this amusement park. They mention a newer ride that nobody seems to get on because the grand roller coaster hides it. It could be a career path you had never heard of or an opportunity that was outshined by the most popular career choices. For instance, it could be becoming a manufacturing engineer, or an industrial designer. As you approach it, the line seems unusually short. People who have ridden it are outside, beckoning for more people to get on. People are running back into the line to do it again! So, you hop in line and you’re anxious. Will you like it? Is it the one for you? Finally, you board the ride and it sets off. You are pursuing this opportunity. It goes up, and twists like a challenge you must conquer. Of course, just when you think it’s over, you are sent flying through a loop. Then, you begin going up once more. One challenge overcome and many ahead as you zoom toward the finish. Before you realise it, you’ve found something you love to do.

I don’t know about all of you, but I have every intention of boarding the lesser-known ride with the nice short line. After all, it’s the unique career with untold possibilities.