Seconds, please.
Posted by Trix on Jan 05 2009
“Dude, you’re just going through a Thrisis,” he told me. “A crisis in your 30s, doubting what you’ve been doing with your life. It’s the second-biggest trend right now, behind the Menaissance.”
Whether its the turning of the new year, being raised by ambitious parents, finding myself in an overachiever social group or finding ourselves solidly in our 30’s, there’s a lot of pressure to do things right, and do it quick, because time’s running out. I was quite pleased to find David Rosen’s NYT short piece “Dire Times Offer a Chance to Reconsider Choices” (originally titled in dire fashion – “In a life of firsts, its the seconds that count most”) sharing his tales of the pressures we ask ourselves “Is this what I’m going to be doing every day until I die?” Whether we’re determined to stick out this career choice or are contemplating a more inspiring line of work, there are many of us examining whether the path we’re on is the best choice for us to have a significant positive impact on this world in which we live.
What we choose to do with our lives now seems so important. Whether its going back to school, switching fields or figuring out how to best achice the next level of advancement within our current field, there’s a lot of pressure. And its not about pressure not to fail, but to fail ourselves (or is it our parents or societies pressures) in not becoming the image of professional success we idealize.
Whether the struggle to make a success of oneself is catalyzed by forced change of career due economic hard times or due to the neverending nagging in head about not being good enough, the feeling is often the same. When you’re in your 30’s it seems like its now or never to take the leap. But the question that inevitably comes up, is what is the right leap. As Rosen suggests, it seems like slowing down and diversifying around your interests is probably the most reasonable step to take. And I’d suggest look inside ourselves and find what living a successful life really is and follow that long and windy road one step at a time.