What did you do at work today?
I have the best job in the world! I got to spend the day holding a newborn donkey…
When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a Marine Biologist or an Oceanographer. I dreamed of sailing on the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau. Or becoming a Zoologist. I would be a protégé of Dr. Leake. I wanted to live in the jungle and study chimps like Jane Goodall or gorillas like Dian Fossey. I would be like Joy Adamson saving lion cubs in Kenya. For my 10th birthday I asked for a subscription to National Geographic Magazine. I was going to travel to exotic places like the Galapagos Islands and discover new species.
Like many of you, as I grew older, I let something called “practicality” and “common sense” start making decisions for me. I listened to the well-meaning advice of others and became convinced that the careers I dreamed of were out of my reach.
The Jungle? Seriously? You hate bugs. The Calypso? Dream on. Zoologist? Hope you enjoy shoveling elephant crap all day.
I thought I might “settle” for becoming a Vet Assistant – but then too, I was advised I’d be spending my days cleaning up after barfing dogs and pooping cats.
What about a horse ranch out west? Yeah, have fun mucking stalls.
“Maybe you should try nursing” someone said. Maybe engineering, another well-meaning adult suggested. What about secretarial school….
What a bunch of horse manure (hmmm, I see a poop theme here, lol)!
In the end, I got a degree in communications because I listened to someone who said “All you need is the piece of paper to land a good job”.
And that is how I ended up in the corporate world. Where I dutifully climbed the corporate ladder, got an advanced degree, got promoted to an executive level position with a great company making great money – and was completely miserable.
Guess what, those childhood dreams don’t go away. I STILL want to sail on Calypso and swim with whales. Hike into the jungle to bond with chimps and elephants. I AM going to Kenya. I WILL go to the Galapagos.
I recently closed the doors on my corporate job to follow my dreams. I am now a teacher of a very unique skill-talent-gift. Animal Communication and Animal Reiki. I travel across the country and around the world working with pets, farm animals, zoo animals, exotic animals, animals in sanctuaries, rescues and shelters. I have held snakes, alligators, skunks, baby raccoons, eagles, donkeys, and horses, to name but a few.
What do you care? Because I truly feel we all came here with a purpose – we knew the meaning of life when we got here, but society conditioned it out of us.
Our dreams do not go away. They can be squashed, buried and ignored – but they can also be rediscovered, achieved and lived.
Dr. Wayne Dyer once said “Don’t die with your music still in you”. Whatever your dream life, career, relationship, purpose looks like, it takes just one step.
One step every day in the direction of your dream. Or, to quote another of my faves, Mike Dooley – “Throw a softball and let the Universe hit your homerun.”
The animals held open the door for me. Who is holding open the door for you and are you willing to walk through it?