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career
November 2009 
What was, or is, your dream career?
Posted on Aug 15th, 2008
by 
Shameslaya
Shameslaya
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for August 15, 2008:
What I'm doing; earning a living as a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer, and teaching various forms of yoga....
Some folk tell me I am lucky but I'm not...I worked drekking hard to get where I am....in 1996, i was a disillusionned Mental health Nurse therapist, doing a job which was, and is, statistically more dangerous than being a policeman in the UK....I undertook an expensive training (ongoing...I've spent an estimated £34,000 in training, supervision and exam fees in the last 12 years...) the personal changes I underwent cost me my marriage and everything but the clothes on my back and my car......as a divorced part-time therapist with few clients and no reputation, I supplemented my income by working three night shifts in various elderly homes over the weekend to pay my way and still could not afford a daily newspaper or cappucino....
My room is in the above picture...I began working in the loft garret in the Institute for Psychotherapy and coveted Room 2 because it was the largest in the house and one could run group therapy in it....I made it my seven year plan to get installed there, refurbish it out of my own pocket (it was rather dingy) and have my name on the door.....I did it in three years after the guy who used the room relocated....now that bit was lucky for me....but to do this I had to pack in my nurses job and take the room on full time....I did this and, again, had to save up to paint the walls and replace the mouldering sofas with clean ones.....
I am not saying this out of arrogance but to suggest to you that if you have a dream career, then nobody but yourself is going to make the dream happen for you....dreams turn into reality through effort...the more visionary the dream, the greater the adversity...
And you do not have to do it alone....Tam has been a wonderful source of support over the last seven years of an ever blossoming friendship/relationship.....my son Lewis is amazingly empathic.....my ex-wife whom I now live next door to (I've done lots of hard work in all sorts of directions these last 8 years I can tell ya!!!!) tells me "Good on yer" on a good day......
I also want to say that sometimes plans have to be delayed because one literally has no resources to meet the next stage....the aim is then to garner those resources
Also, you may not know what your dream career is....my suggestion here is to note what you do with that time you label "quality"...doesn't matter what it is.....then figure out what sort of career you can embed those activities within...I asked lwewis about this last year and he talked about becoming a professional skateboarder and we talked about how he could do that...one year on at eleven years of age, he doesn't know what he wants to do anymore apart from "maybe go to University"....what is key here is not to encourage him to do this or that but to get him into the habit of learning the mechanisms for fleshing out his dreams so that he may employ them when he embarks upon adulthood.
Warmth of the day to you
Love and light, jon x
Some folk tell me I am lucky but I'm not...I worked drekking hard to get where I am....in 1996, i was a disillusionned Mental health Nurse therapist, doing a job which was, and is, statistically more dangerous than being a policeman in the UK....I undertook an expensive training (ongoing...I've spent an estimated £34,000 in training, supervision and exam fees in the last 12 years...) the personal changes I underwent cost me my marriage and everything but the clothes on my back and my car......as a divorced part-time therapist with few clients and no reputation, I supplemented my income by working three night shifts in various elderly homes over the weekend to pay my way and still could not afford a daily newspaper or cappucino....
My room is in the above picture...I began working in the loft garret in the Institute for Psychotherapy and coveted Room 2 because it was the largest in the house and one could run group therapy in it....I made it my seven year plan to get installed there, refurbish it out of my own pocket (it was rather dingy) and have my name on the door.....I did it in three years after the guy who used the room relocated....now that bit was lucky for me....but to do this I had to pack in my nurses job and take the room on full time....I did this and, again, had to save up to paint the walls and replace the mouldering sofas with clean ones.....
I am not saying this out of arrogance but to suggest to you that if you have a dream career, then nobody but yourself is going to make the dream happen for you....dreams turn into reality through effort...the more visionary the dream, the greater the adversity...
And you do not have to do it alone....Tam has been a wonderful source of support over the last seven years of an ever blossoming friendship/relationship.....my son Lewis is amazingly empathic.....my ex-wife whom I now live next door to (I've done lots of hard work in all sorts of directions these last 8 years I can tell ya!!!!) tells me "Good on yer" on a good day......
I also want to say that sometimes plans have to be delayed because one literally has no resources to meet the next stage....the aim is then to garner those resources
Also, you may not know what your dream career is....my suggestion here is to note what you do with that time you label "quality"...doesn't matter what it is.....then figure out what sort of career you can embed those activities within...I asked lwewis about this last year and he talked about becoming a professional skateboarder and we talked about how he could do that...one year on at eleven years of age, he doesn't know what he wants to do anymore apart from "maybe go to University"....what is key here is not to encourage him to do this or that but to get him into the habit of learning the mechanisms for fleshing out his dreams so that he may employ them when he embarks upon adulthood.
Warmth of the day to you
Love and light, jon x
Access: Public
You are my hero Jon. I'm proud of you. Excellent and great advice… just love that word 'Quality' :D
Thanks for sharing. Much love. Sherri
Just love how you encourage others Jon, and you are a fine example, passion and get up and go - it can't fail. Hugs.
Dear Jon
Every Vision or Dream, needs a lot of investment, being it financial or personal. But somehow because of the Dream these ''sacrifices'' do not seem to be all that hard. The Vision and the feeling that this is the right thing to do propells you onwards.
I will be able to tell you better how it is in a few months, as I have just decided to follow my heart and change my profession. Going to Thailand to learn their way of massage.
Namaste
Thank you Sherri…Quality is one of those words which superficially has a subjective feel to it but actually has a consensually-validated referent at it's kernel…
Thanx Gael….yep get up and move on up and out and in….garner those resources….which are often about getting the energy to do something….yoga has been a boon for me in this respect….
Katerina…deep curtsey to you…now there's a bold step..my sacrifices did feel hard at the time since my vision flickered and occasionally died in the face of what felt like adversity encountered in isolation….maybe Thai massage sangha are more supportive of visionary enactment…..anyways I support your vision and I'm sure it will pay off….there'll always be a need for quality bodyworkers.
Jon xx
Jon,
Living next door to the X are ya? I have a new found respect for your stamina.
Just how costly are these sessions you earn a living with? I may be in need of a new trainer.
Yoga has been my life blood, which has be purified by three x-wifes.
Namaste'
Yes, the word 'Quality' is hovering around there somewhere with 'Divine' and 'Potential' in my opinion. We all kinda know when we haven't hit it but we know it is with us…
A clear vision of what you want for your life can certainly pull you along and over the bumps and the grumps; they seem to be par for the course right now. And I like the strength they have built, especially in the gut.
Good to be on the team.
Friend, Sherri
you're right, it's not luck, we must be clear and focussed and work hard to make our dreams come true. kudos to you!
Jon, you are an inspiration who puts the whole law of attraction into perspective by including all the bits.
Sherri…. I love “all the bumps and grumps”. Five fabulous words that cover it all. I know I will work that one into my bag of “possibilities and persepectives”.
Thank you all for being.
Larry….yep I live next door to my ex and we get along fine mostly….Lew loves having two bedrooms next door to one another…..he has a younger brother with a now-departed and woefully-absent father…after I write this, I'm off to feed her cats…she's in Whitby by the sea (Scene of Bram Stoker's Dracula…there's a Dracula museum run by this bloke with teeth filed into points…I find myself wondering if he's gay and if so how he copes…)…
Fee-wise, i have a sliding scale….if you're loaded I take a wad off you each session…if you're unemployed, you'll be able to afford me and you will get no better value for money given my experience and qualifications…..I do get a healthy balance of rich and poor clients most of the time…..
Sherri…I read yr comment and thought that Clear Vision Magnet would be an excellent name for a progressive rock band..it's up there with Prolix and the Hollow Ornate or Children of the Kali Yuga……
Nicole…ta very much lass….kudos reciprocated you godpodgoddess you…
Cara…hello there…you know I was going to say something like “I don't believe in the Law Of Attraction” because I've been swayed by Andrew Cohen's outlook of late and Ken Wilber's Myth Of The Given and his argument against the exostence of Synchronicity as we tend to conceive it…and i have a whole new train of thought on that matter which i think I'll write about so I'll do that sometime soon and quote yr name on it if that's okay…
In transit….thank you for all your kind and astute words…I value them greatly…Jon x
Shivers and that over the timing of this Q&A! .. Jon, you're an inspiration mate, here, there and all over!
Got the ex just down the road (there is no next door here), and am at the garner the resources stage meself … so I'm off to do some garnering. On the way, I'll answer this for myself by way of getting my goals clear for the 5 days on the Spine class in the south-west next week.
Bless you friend, here, there and all over - may the ever present IS-ness continue to shine through your every breath :-D xx
Jon, I would be honoured if you used my name. I must say that the LOA as presented in the film The Secret is no service to anyone as presented since the vital use of ACTION is missing. Your words perfectly presented LOA as it is. You get what you give and you gave alot to get what you have. I believe there is a Law of Attraction and I believe you have revealed “the secret” through your success story.
Thank you for being AND sharing.
Go well Lindsay and Leah….I'll enunciate my LOA ideas in due course.
Love, Jon xx
jordan & I had a great conversation about affirmations yesterday – a trusted advisor of his was putting the idea of affirmations down. “if you have to say I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy all the time, are you really happy? does it make you happy?”
I answered the question with a question – I asked, “what do you think that olympic swimming guy – michael phelps? says to himself every day while he's swimming? do you think he's saying, “ah, I don't know why I bother, there's no way I'll win?” and I pointed out that he isn't winning just because he's saying positive, encouraging things to himself, but also because he's taking action and training and eating right and etc. so there it is…. vision, visualization, affirmations maybe, and hard work and smart work. jordan seemed to like that answer. I liked that he posed the question at all. shows he's really thinking about things and sorting things out for himself. shows he's paying attention.
and I love what you said here….
“what is key here is not to encourage him to do this or that but to get him into the habit of learning the mechanisms for fleshing out his dreams so that he may employ them when he embarks upon adulthood.”
perfect.
and as for x's. I'm friends with all of mine to one degree or another. it kind of drives my husband crazy. :-)
Self-talk is powerful; it's been proven over and over. It's good that Jordan is intuitive enough to wonder if the adviser had the whole story… and I think it's pretty cool that he saw you as a go-to resource! This says a lot. You've got a good thing going there Dawn. I always love your calm; I'm certain that is a reason that Jordan comes to you as well… that's really nice. I'm smiling :)
Affirmations work! Yeh! I used to write mine out at one time, just to fight the mind chatter which was pretty darn big and powerful. Now it is getting simpler. I seemed to have built the muscle for decluttering my brain and for filtering out the nonsense now. Not seeking perfection with it, but feeling much much more in control of my future as a result of it.
Exes, in my past. No need to go back there. Usually it's them that have issues with remaining friends. I suppose because it is usually me who moves on for my own growth. Sighhh :D
Sherri