If we knew then.....

If we knew then what we know now, would we still go down the same career path and pursue our specific profession? More than a handful of people I know, including myself, have to create a balancing act between what is part and parcel of the 'job description,' as well as fly by the seat of our pants learning how to do aspects of the job we never would have anticipated. If I were to take a poll, I'm sure a motley crew of individuals in society could readily identify and agree with this observation.

Do the pros of your job duties outweigh the cons? For instance, does your passion for your work feel more like 'play' (or is it at least 'interesting') most of the time? Or are the difficult and sometimes weird aspects you didn't sign on for overpower a nieve sense of idealism you once had prior to the unknown professional commitment? This is not to say idealism is a bad thing, but it can blind us to the reality (or application) if we focus too much on theory.

I remember thinking about this alot when I was in graduate school. As any graduate student can attest, being a student involves a full immersion into learning the ins and outs of a chosen profession. It is with the hope that if you work hard (or more succinctly, work smartly), you will become sufficiently confident and competent to tackle the professional challenges that lay in waiting out in the work force. Sure, we may feel some degree of apprehension, but we've been given ample preparation and training, right? Not entirely.

Nothing prepared me for the day I would begin working with drug addicts taking methadone, let alone answering the ever dreaded question in virtually any social situation, "So, Katie...what do you do for work?" (Note: I have increasingly come to loathe this predictable conversation starter because the answer is more of an essay style variety, too complicated to reply in short answer form...believe me, I've tried the ambigious approach...doesn't work). I also never would have guessed that in my lifetime, I'd feel scared shitless at work (One of at least a handful of examples: When I had a client inches from my face, raising her voice with a threatening tone that suggested she might get violent on me).

Or the time another woman lifted up her shirt (without a bra) to show me some cyst she had around her breasts. No exaggeration. And working with those that have more extensive issues (ie, severe mental illness, socioeconomic hardships, bad hygiene, strong sense of entitlement) that go beyond the average presenting problems of 'regular' counseling or what I remember learning about in my classes at Adler. I'm beginning to wonder if there is such as a thing as 'regular' (or 'normal') counseling....just as I'm sure my friends who are teachers think similarly about their jobs as 'just teachers' (because they end up doing their fair share of 'counseling' as well!).

Maybe normalcy and 'standard operating procedure' only exists in the least unpredictable of environments, which probably rules out about 90 to 95% of most professions.

If someone told me five years ago that I would also someday work at a job where I had to collect urine as part of the job description, I would have cringed. Ditto for working at a place where arming and disarming a security alarm is as routine as brushing one's teeth in the morning. Then there's all the health problems and medical issues I end up talking about with my clients, even though I continually tell them I'm NOT a medical doctor, nor even a psychiatrist. I certainly do counseling, but there's all these extra job duties graduate school and professional training just don't prepare you for and I guess it's near impossible to do so anyway.

Perhaps our work lives serve as a metaphor (or a microcosm of the bigger macrocosm) for our lives in general. John Lennon has said it best: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Absolutely. Control and plan as best as we might, the real work happens despite our pre-planned efforts and passions.

So while having passion and bliss in one's professional life can be tantamount to overall happiness in life, I think it is critical for one to be open to the possibility that with the sweet comes the bitter. It can, and usually does, fly out of nowhere! Whether you can fully embrace the bittersweet and still keep your passion and sanity....that can be the most revealing challenge of all. And I can proudly say....

I'm still standing, er sitting here. How about you?