Week 02 thoughts

 Week two thoughts:

Taking this class at 50 years old, I feel a bit like a fish out of water. I still have most of my kids at home, but in only 6 more years we will have an empty nest. I've passed the halfway point of my career life. I'm concerned about my ability to start a new business or career successfully at 50. I might be able to open a business that is successful, but not likely with my husband as I had talked about in the assignment earlier in the week. In talking to him, I see that he is too afraid to take a risk and feels most comfortable playing it safe by working at his job with guaranteed income and health insurance. He does not have an entrepreneurial mindset. It is ok. That's just where we are at this point. So, I have to be realistic about what I'm working with. I feel good about the life that I have lived by choosing motherhood as my career. I realize that I am living more along these lines from the "Introduction to Entrepreneurship"; 

    "...you might be more spontaneous and-while choosing certain skills or areas to master--remain             open to the opportunities that present themselves along your journey, designing each one to move         you closer to fulfilling a calling and living a life well-lived."

Questions for consideration: 1)Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

Randy was able to achieve so many of his dreams because he persevered and adapted and, in some cases, he "adjusted" his dreams as needed. For example, while he didn't play football for the NFL, did play football, and he was able to look back and recognize the lessons that he learned while playing football. 

He had the most awesome quote about persevering in spite of coming up on brick walls:

" But remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people." 

2)Do you feel dreaming is important? Why or why not?

Yes, I feel dreaming is important. A dream is similar to a vision. It sets the stage and the framework for progress and forwards momentum in accomplishing goals. Having a dream is the first step in creating something.

3) Discuss one of your childhood dreams. Do you feel you could accomplish it, why or why not?

One of my childhood dreams was to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and do therapy. I saw the benefits of therapy for my mother as she struggled with depression as I was growing up. After I graduated from college, my husband and I left southern California and moved to southern Utah. The nearest Master of Social Work program was in Las Vegas, NV which wasn't feasible at the time. We started our family and moved to different states and continued having children several times. It never was the "right time", to pursue a Master's in Social Work program. I finally applied for a Master's in Social Work program online through Boise State University last year in 2022. As I considered the rigor of the program, the time it would take away from my family, the cost of the program, and the amount of time that I might be working in the field, I decided that I don't want to "pay the cost" to pursue that dream, in spite of being making it to the interview phase of the application process. While obtaining an MSW was a dream, so was becoming a mother and raising my family. I am not willing to miss out on choir concerts and sporting events over the next three years, with the few remaining years that my kids have at home, to pursue a Master's in Social Work. Although I have never done therapy in a clinical setting, I certainly have done "counseling" with my family and friends over the years! I fully believe that I could succeed at pursuing an LCSW license and becoming a therapist, I just don't want it badly enough.

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