Homer's Travels: No Sympathy Expected

Monday, August 25, 2008

No Sympathy Expected

The Wife has started her new teaching position.  Today was an in-service day and she was overloaded with information.  Actual teaching won't start until after Labor Day.  I helped her fill out all the insurance forms tonight - never ending.

Now that the Wife has started work, it is time for me to really start thinking about what I want to do.  Her new job will provide a good income but it is not where she wants to be.  Her true vocation is to teach less fortunate students at a Catholic school.  Her new job isn't Catholic and the students are of means.  She really wants to teach in the all girls school she worked at before we were married. If there is an opening there for the next school year, she will very likely jump for it and this would very likely result in a pay cut.  A pay cut will probably mean I go looking for a job.  This is not a certainty as we really haven't been able to nail down exactly what we need to live comfortably here in Nebraska and it will probably be another year before we can make an educated guess.

I can be selfish at times but I really want the Wife to be happy.  If she wants to take a pay cut to insure that she is pursuing her vocation, then I will support her the best I can.  If it means me getting a job ...  so be it.

I  wish I wouldn't draw a blank every time I thought about my vocation.  I am proud that the Wife has found her vocation.  Few people ever do.  I have not.  I have spent some 25+ years feeling there was something out there for me and I haven't a clue what it is.  Now I have about a year to figure it out.

8 comments:

  1. I hear you, brother. I wonder if I'll ever figure it out myself. Though, I have to say, a year off to mull it over wouldn't be a bad thing...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have that same blank though I call it my wall.

    ReplyDelete
  3. First of all, I am the luckiest wife in the world to have a husband who supports my work -- work that often dominates both our lives as I grade papers in the evenings and design lesson plans on the weekends. It's pretty awesome to have a partner who can handle a spouse not making choices based completely on money. So, even though I want the job that doesn't pay much, for so many reasons ... we're very rich in having each other.

    Ok, maybe I can get a night job writing Hallmark greetings ... but I mean every word of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GH: The year does give me an advantage but I'm not very optimistic.

    JaG: Good name for it.

    The Wife: Yes we are. Hmmm Hallmark ... Maybe I could do that ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I suppose that I'm still too young to really worry about that. Some people do find their path and some others don't. As long as I feel happy enough, I would call it fair.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gany: The goal is to find an occupation that you look forward to doing each day. If your work makes you happy, you have found your path.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I realise that. However I do think that a majority of people don't find their "working goal" and therefore stick to a job they "appreciate" instead of trying to finding the one job which could make them walking in air. Besides, a couple of friends of mine are remotely interested in their jobs, they just sort of get along with them and related workmates. Nonetheless, they thrive while engaging in social activities and such.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gany: Totally agree. My job of 21 years was that - it payed the bills but resulted in no joy. I decided that wasting 9 hours a day on an activity that I did not enjoy was a waste of my time.

    ReplyDelete