Most of us have utter the phrase, “when I grow up, I wanna be…..” As kids we look forward to becoming something we imagine is exciting and unique – a super hero, a fireman, a sports professional, a ballerina, etc. My four year old grandson wants to be a pirate. Thinking about that, I realize that I do know some adults who have become pirates, they just aren’t swashbuckling on a ship.
Nick has always loved flying on airplanes. I think if he had his choice of occupations, he would be a commercial pilot like his older brother Ryan. Nick chooses to be a pilot on Halloween. That is the day we get to dress up and we can be something else for a while.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an Olympic athlete. I was working towards that goal. I didn’t realize when I quit training what I actually had accomplished. Oh, I hadn’t competed in the Olympics. I wasn’t on that world stage, but the other part I had achieved. I experienced the hours and hours, and years and years, of dedicated focused training to meet the incremental goals that are necessary while working toward the big goal. I had learned self discipline, goal setting, how to pick myself up after falling (literally!), how to step back into training after a perceived failure. These things turned out to be incredible life lessons that have shaped me. So although I never got athlete credentials for the Olympics, I did develop an Olympic level character.
As a young mother of 4 kids, my mentors were women of great accomplishment. They were kind in the face of conflict, focused in the face of stressful schedules, forgiving in the face of hurt, hopeful in the face of anguish. I learned a lot as I modeled my behavior after them. I watched them, I wanted to be like them. I believe that over these decades I have.
So my questions today is, what do you want to be when you grow up, can you dress up like that today and try it out?
