I’ve been enjoying the university summer break that lasts from May to Aug, but it has also given me too much time to ruminate on the past.
I kept annoying my wife by questioning my career decisions over the past 25 years, “What if I had studied a different degree in 1997? Why did I give up this opportunity in 2007? What was I thinking in 2015?”
She has patiently replied each time, “Because you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t make those choices. You would have hated this XXX job and the YYY workplace.” She was right (but of course), yet I still kept wondering if I should have not been me.
There’s also been a mild identity crisis. I complained to my wife that there are too many “Ian Tans” on LinkedIn. Perhaps I should change my name to the gelato-like “Ianetto” or tabloidy “Suzy” to get away from the clones.
Yesterday, the gloomy fog in my mind finally cleared, thanks to Dolly Parton. I was reading this wonderful book “Everything I Know About Life I Learned From Powerpoint” by Russell Davies, and he shared this searing quote from the Great Dolly:
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
POW!
That was all I needed to hear. Back to work. End of post.
(Image from Dolly’s Twitter).