Agreed, kimck. Where we start and where we finish are not just sometimes, but are usually very different, for the majority of people.
I went through the meat-grinder of grad school with plans to be a professor. I wasn't happy in that choice (and the job market in my field stank to high heaven, so there were practical concerns as well), so I left. I worked freelance in business writing, took a position in corporate training and wound up in volunteer training at a non-profit. It was all...meh. At 30, I got married to a man I love deeply and sanely, and we had our first child a couple of years later. I found my work passion--my novel series--shortly after the birth of child #2.
I know what else is out there in the world. I've traveled. I've worked. I know what matters to me and why. I feel strong and smart and appreciated. I am not wealthy, but we have more than enough to meet our needs. I feel challenged. My life is rich.
That's what I want for my kids, too, and I think our little group here is living proof that there are lots of different ways to get there.
