April 13, 2010

"Special Purpose" All I need is....




If you ever saw the Steve Martin movie, “The Jerk”, one of the funniest scenes is The Jerk - "And That's All I Need" where he is going out the door to strike out on his own and starts saying he doesn’t need anything...except... and then he continues picking up everything he can not make himself leave behind. This is sometimes what I tend to do throughout life as I seem to have always been searching for “what do I want to do when I grow up”. In fact, I continue to say this to myself, even though I am 58 years old. We can often seem to be searching for that one thing, as Curly (Jack Palance) says is the key to success in life from the movie “City Slickers”.

Over the last two years, since losing my 22 year job as a Technical Analyst at a major corporation, I have changed my job title to musician, singer/songwriter, keyboardist, blogger, freelance writer, and entrepreneur along with becoming a semi-retired house husband, house cleaner, cook, dog watcher, lawn mower, ......(the latter group, of which I have no objections to as they provide activity and opportunities to walk away from what I am doing, with the possible exception of dog watcher) ☺ 

The thing is, that although I do seem to be bringing my creative gifts into focus in all that I do, I still do not have a clear idea of where or which I will eventually end up doing. The nice thing is that most of this can all be continued past what would be normal retirement age. I really do not want to sit on a porch and watch the days go by, although I am a big fan of such activity. I just am well aware that inactivity or lack of fulfilling your inner self will only cause a rapid decline in both emotional and physical health, resulting in not only a shorter life, but one lacking quality. Besides, when we can do something we love and in turn help others along the way, why would anyone ever want to quit doing that? This is especially so, when you may have only worked most of your life at careers to only pay the bills or buy physical things, while never fulfilling your inner wellness.

I am beginning to think that these all may be “what I do rather than retire”.... “musician, singer/songwriter, keyboardist, blogger, freelance writer, and entrepreneur” These all are things that I love, make me happy and can help others. 

 Al Capp quotes (American Cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Li'l Abner. 1909-1979)

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