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Fulfilling one\'s purpose: at a crossroads

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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • January 24, 2016 at 6:37 pm #93546
    cheerio
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    So this is my first time on this forum (or any for that matter) but I’ve been reading a lot of tiny buddha’s articles/posts and figured that this forum might be a great place to get some advice. I am 25 and am at crossroads in my life right now when it comes to choosing a career. For me, having a fulfilling career that makes me happy is a large part of my vision of what a purposeful life includes. I recently graduated as an occupational therapist, but have been experiencing recurring thoughts about pursuing medicine (to become a paediatrician). The latter profession was something that I never vocalized my entire life, but it was always assumed because of my cultural and academic background. I faced resistance when attempting to pursue this profession for the first time and realized then that the entire process was not exciting or enjoyable at all: it brought me anxiety and dread. Whereas the occupational therapy program was quite amazing, to put it simply 🙂 I guess my question here is: is fear and an lack of motivation to go full force for a potential career making me veer away from fulfilling my purpose and potential? Because in the end, money and status don’t matter… and this I have realized recently when I reflected on my life thus far. Being happy with my life…. making my life the one I have dreamed about for so long… I want to make that a reality… I don’t want to come to a point later in life when I look back and say :”I could’ve done this… but it’s too late now”. At the same token, I want to enjoy my present and engage in processes and activities that I am excited about and enjoy. I apologize for all this information, it’s just that I’ve been ruminating on these thoughts for a while and it’s gotten quite toxic in my head. If anyone’s read this far, thank you… I Really appreciate your time and attention. And if anyone has any advice (I was thinking may meditation would help me find an answer?) or any personal life experiences that are similar, that would really help. Just writing all this out lessened the load in my mind. Thank you once again!

    January 24, 2016 at 7:54 pm #93569
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear cheerio:

    Your emotions, once interpreted correctly, give you the information of what is the right thing for you to do and what is wrong for you to do. Feeling lack of motivation to study medicine, does it not give you the information that this is not what you want? Feeling anxiety and dread about the process of becoming a medical doctor, doesn’t it tell you that you that choosing medicine and going through the process is dangerous to your mental health? The fact that you enjoyed occupational therapy and even put a smiley face to stress the point, doesn’t it tell you: bingo! I want to be an occupational therapist and I love it!

    Regarding “I could have done this .. but it’s too late,” let’s say you become a medical doctor, then you could say: “I could have studied law, and now it is too late to become a lawyer” And you can fill in a thousand other occupations in place of “law”

    Does this help any?
    anita

    January 24, 2016 at 9:10 pm #93585
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Cheerio – Try Bikram Yoga. I have practiced Bikram Yoga for 4 years now and it’s life changing. Some people give up way too fast because it can be a little challenging at times but the trick/secret to Bikram is to go every day, at the very least 4 consecutive days in row every week and I tell you what, you’ll see how much easier it becomes. I get into my own meditation world and forget the people around me and my body automatically does all the postures. Don’t get me wrong, I have my days where it’s somewhat challenging because recently I went back since I had been gone the entire fall, traveling for work. So, some parts of my body were sore, due to me not practicing for months. Challenging just a bit yes but well worth the end result every day and how I feel afterwards. The perfect workout to keep you lean, toned, healing ailments in your body, detoxing all the toxins out of your pores and peace of mind. Hope that helps.

    Sending you love, happiness and light.

    -Namaste

    January 26, 2016 at 7:28 am #93744
    Liesel
    Participant

    That you are questioning your choice at all leads me to think that your heart might be in studying medicine. My ex-husband is a doctor and I was with him through medical school and residency, so it is challenging. Your hesitation is understandable because it is a big commitment. However, it would not be surprising if many doctors were nervous about the challenges of medical school. They did it anyway, because that is where their heart was. Yes, you may be fulfilled and enjoy your OT career, and that is fine if you stay there. Just don’t let fear be the deciding factor of whether you apply for med school.

    I have experience with going back to school. In my early 30s, I moved to a foreign country where I did not know the language and began studying post grad in a field where I felt I had some technical weaknesses. I was nervous. I have never slept so little, had so many ups and downs, felt so frustrated, made so many awesome friends, experienced so many unbelievable positive things, learned so much about myself. The negatives pass, but the positives will remain for life.

    If you have not applied due to lack of interest, then you may truly have no desire to study medicine. And if you have no desire, it will be a frustrating waste of time. There has to be some passion. If it is fear, however- then that is the most unfortunate reason.

    January 27, 2016 at 2:15 pm #93974
    cheerio
    Participant

    Dear Anita, Elle Ticker 700 and Liesel,

    Thank you all for your advice. I question whether my nature is suitable for medicine anyways- I get stressed easily and am not excited about the actual CONTENT of what being a doctor entails: ie., learning about diseases. I mean, I am good at memorizing but I don’t put in extra work/interest/passion into learning about illnesses.It’s more of an ego thing where, if I’m with a friend who is a doctor, I would pretend to know all the health related things she’s talking about in order to feel important and useful. What attracts me to medicine is the humanitarian aspect of what I could do clinically as a doctor- caring for people and helping with a universal skill set that would guarantee me employment anywhere in the world. Should I just push myself to go through schooling in order to reach that light at the end of the tunnel? If that mindset makes sense, then maybe I should apply again….

    January 27, 2016 at 8:18 pm #94005
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear cheerio:

    You wrote that you get stressed easily: this is something very relevant to consider in applying to medicine- it is very stressful. You have to fit your plans to who you are and what your challenges are. There has to be a fit. You can decide to attempt something difficult.. but not too difficult, not more difficult than you can handle!

    Can you talk more to someone studying medicine and get details on the schedule, the demands, how that person deals with stress to get more of a feel as to if you can handle yourself that kind of stress?

    anita

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