When to Leave the Field of Social Work

If you check message boards on the internet you will find plenty of disgruntled social workers.  Some have been in the field for a long time and are burnt out, while others are having a hard time finding a well-paying social work job that matches their education and heaping student loans.

There are some social workers who are tired of the paperwork and bureaucracy, the lack of time they can spend with their clients, the workplace bullying they are experiencing, and their lack of work/life balance whereby their personal relationships are starting to be affected.  Then there are social workers experiencing compassion fatigue or post traumatic stress disorder, others who fear their safety as they have been threatened or stalked, or just generally feel numb to the needs of others and have nothing left to give to their clients.  Some have realised they are in the wrong helping profession or they want to leave the helping profession altogether.  Career goals have changed along the way or personal values can no longer be silenced.  Either way, these social workers are at a crossroad.

I have met and talked to a few former social workers.  There are still many more who have moved on from working in child welfare and are all the more happier for it.  In many of these cases I still see the heart of a social worker that never goes away: they are still advocates and they still care about helping others.

I know for me, my identity is nearly completely wrapped up in being a social worker.  Even when I'm not at work I am talking to people about their problems, recommending assistance and so on.  It's funny, when people find out your a social worker there are a lot of them who want your opinion.  When I watch the news or am watching a tv show or movie, social issues leap out at me and I can't help but see the situation with a social worker's perspective.  It is devastating to me when I think about possibly leaving the social work field in the future as it will feel like I am losing a part of myself.

No job is perfect all the time.  Sometimes it can seem boring or uninteresting or the opposite: overwhelming and depressing.  Everyone goes through career slumps and many question if they made the right decision entering their field of choice.  Sometimes we make our choices when we are very young, uninformed or idealistic.  And then reality catches up with us.  I am sure many of you have met social workers who warn others not to enter this field.  I too have met social work hopefuls and I felt it was my duty to explain both the good and the bad.  But honestly, it is very difficult to explain the emotions you will experience when you are a social worker.

I have not been shy in admitting that there have been times that I have wondered if I should stay in the field of social work.  I love social work so much but I am not sure if it is the "idea" of social work that appeals to me more.

I don't doubt that social workers have giving and loving hearts.  Many would do anything in their power to help a person in need.  But sometimes there are other factors that get in the way and we just have to move on.

Here are some reasons why a social worker might leave the field:

• Lack of support from family, friends, colleagues and management whereby they are feeling isolated
• A change of personal circumstance such as an illness, injury, divorce, death etc. whereby the job becomes too difficult to continue to perform
• Unrelenting burnout that has not been fixed by changing agencies or positions within the field of social work
• Mental health or physical issues caused by the profession which cannot be remedied other than leaving the field entirely
• You have a new career goal that you have fully investigated and have decided that social work no longer matches your career goals

Every item in an of itself would be reason enough to leave social work.  However it is not recommended to make any drastic decisions in the moment when you are upset, angry, frustrated, or feeling burnt out.  Speak to friends and family members to get their advice and seek the help of a career counsellor who may help you to see the bigger picture.  If after a lot of soul searching you have decided to leave the field, try not to feel guilty and focus on all the people you helped during your career.  And remember, the skills you gained as a social worker will never really leave you.

What's Missing in Social Work Schools

Looking back at my time as a social work student, I often wonder if my professors could have done more to prepare me and my other fellow graduates about the reality of social work once we left the safety of our program.

Many of my social work professors were upbeat, experienced and determined.  Some sessional instructors were still working in the field full time while other professors had been out of the field for some time.  The courses I took ranged from social work history, policy, counselling skills, research methods and of course an unpaid internship.

Some of the best professors I ever had in school taught in my social work program.  They were often open, funny and approachable.  However, somewhere along the way honesty about the true nature of social work got lost.  Only brief mentions were put on work/life balance, compassion fatigue, physical and emotional risks, large caseloads and the pros and cons of working for a profit agency versus a non-profit.  High turnover rates and mass exoduses of social workers leaving the field were also skipped over.

Most of the social workers we got to meet, either through guest speakers or the professors themselves were happy about their career choices.  Few said how many social work jobs they had to try out first before finding the right fit.  Also, it would have been helpful to talk about personality types and unresolved traumas and how that impacts student enrolment.  I have read studies were a large portion of social work students have experienced significant trauma in their lives and have not received help for it.  Does attending the social work program then become a sort of therapy for them?  Or are they so focused on helping others overcome their experiences that they neglect to look at themselves and whether or not they can emotionally handle the demands of the field?  These are tricky questions no doubt since how do you completely quantify the reasons why someone goes into a helping profession?

Differences in pay depending on the organisation and job title would have been helpful.  A discussion on careers relating to social work in case somebody wanted to later branch out would have also been useful since there are many social workers that go on to be nurses, teachers or lawyers.

No social work program is perfect and all colleges/universities have a bottom line.  However, this field requires such an emotional and mental investment that it is worth having transparent faculties that show how difficult the field can truly be.

Letting the Wrong Social Work Job Go

I can't tell you how many times I have chosen the wrong social work job based on the best intentions.  If the road to success is paved with multiple failures then I should be top of my career game by now.  Unfortunately, I am not.

When leaving school, most of us choose the first job that we successfully interview for and which gives us enough of a salary to pay our bills.  It was true in my case.  I chose a job that paid substantially well, neglecting the fact that although now I could afford a pretty good lifestyle, I would barely have time to enjoy it.  Immediately I felt swamped, overwhelmed and lost.  I knew within the first day and more surely within the first week that this was not the right social work job for me.  It was just too heartbreaking and I felt that I did not have the mental and physical capabilities to sustain my front line child welfare job.

But I put in my time anyway and I gained experience.  When the time came that I could barely get out of bed each morning and felt perpetually exhausted and burnt out, I knew it was time to apply to other social work jobs.

Since I lacked real hands on experience with clients that became my new career goal.  I was tired of managing so many files and I actually wanted to do real counselling with clients.  So, I made the transition with less pay and a move.

Although I enjoyed the change of atmosphere in my new job, and the fact that I wasn't sitting in front of my computer all the time, this job was also not a great fit.  My personal and social work values did not always mesh with the position and many times I felt helpless.

There were also more inherent risks with this position since I had more interactions with clients.  I got exposed to verbal and physical abuse which I was not prepared for.  I often wondered what good I was doing in this environment since it was hard to see the changes in my clients.  And it was a challenge not to take their abuse personally.  In a way, after some time I became immune to it but I often would ask myself is this what I want my work environment to be like?  I became jealous when I heard of friends and family members who had office jobs that did not work with the public.  Their lives seemed so stress free, even if they were making less money.

Yet, I persevered since I am not a person who easily gives up.  But eventually I was unable to continue to do this job which was frustrating and disheartening.  I felt like my career was a failure as here was yet another social work job that did not work out, one out of many.  Sometimes I wondered if it was for the best, that if I was not meant to be there then it was right that I ended up moving on.  It was hard to explain to yet another family member or friend that I was leaving another social work job.  They wondered why I couldn't just stay with a job, but that's difficult when it's the wrong one for you.  Since we are exposed to emotional stories, heavy caseloads and threats of emotional and physical violence oftentimes I felt as if I had no choice but to leave if I wanted to keep my health.

So sometimes we just have to let go of our mistakes and misfortunes even if that means accepting failure.  On the bright side, oftentimes this failure is not intentional and after some of the pain has settled we can use it as a learning experience.  However, while you are going through the trying experience it does not much feel like a positive learning opportunity!

In regards to advice, I would say give the new job six months to get to know it before you make any decisions about moving on.  Consult with other social workers in areas different from your own and see if you are just needing a change of fields.  If you feel like your emotional health is at risk because of your job, seek the help of a counsellor to help you sort out any big decisions since often when you are stressed/anxious/or depressed it is harder to make calculated choices.

Lastly, once you make the decision to move on, try not to look back at the mistakes you made in the past.  Focus on the future instead, with the determination that you will find the right social work job for you, even if that means trying out a few different positions along the way.

Social Workers in the Movies: Oranges and Sunshine

Oranges and Sunshine is a 2010 movie starring Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham.  It tells the true life story of Margaret Humphreys, a down to earth and compassionate social worker in Nottingham, UK who slowly unravels the story of the "home children" - children who were taken into care and then deported to such countries as Australia and Canada.

The film starts when Margaret is asked by a woman to help her discover who she is.  Margaret directs an adoption support group for adults in Nottingham and that is how the woman finds her.  The woman explains to Margaret that she has memories of living in England when she was very young, and also has memories of being shipped along with many other children from the UK to Australia to live in children's homes.  Margaret is doubtful about this explanation at first because she has never heard of this "scheme" of unaccompanied minors being shipped not to adoptive homes, but children's homes in Australia.  Then, a regular woman in Margaret's adoption support group mentions that she too was also shipped to Australia with her brother (Hugo Weaving's character) after their mother died.

After gaining this information, Margaret begins to do research on birth records etc. of the original woman and discovers that her mother is still alive.  The woman had been taken into care as a young child and when her mother returned to see her, she was informed that  her daughter had been "adopted."  Margaret then uses her own vacation time to go to Australia to find out of there were more adults who had been shipped to Australia as children.  The response becomes overwhelming and it soon becomes Margaret's full time job, with the support of her employer, to try and reunite these lost Australian "home children" with their UK families.

What follows is a heart wrenching investigation as Margaret uncovers a lack of willingness to accept responsibility from the UK and Australian governments, and finds out about the sad experiences that many of these children had in the homes.  They were given only one outfit to wear, were forced to do hard labour, could only attend school if they completed their work, and experienced physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the Congregation of the Christian Brothers who ran a home in Bindoon, Australia.  The results of this treatment are devastating on these grown adults - they feel empty, worthless and alone.  Margaret provides a comforting ear to their stories but the effect begins to take a toll on her.  She is diagnosed with PTSD after her hair beings falling out, she is threatened by an intruder, and she wakes up in the middle of the night and cannot breathe.

A pivotal part in the movie comes near the end when Margaret sees firsthand the children's home in Bindoon.  It is in a very isolated location, and therefore there is nowhere to run for these children to seek help.  One of the former residents, Len (played by David Wenham) takes her inside whereby the Brothers are shocked at her presence.  Margaret asks them as grown men, what should they be afraid of?  After returning to the car, Margaret begins to weep and Len offers her water.  He then offers up more information about himself as he says that one of the Brothers used to come for him at night.  Thus explaining why he had been so prickly and untrusting of Margaret earlier.

To these "home children" Margaret becomes like a sister, listening to their stories and trying to gain information about the families they were separated from so many years ago.  The movie begins to take place in the mid 1980's and many of these children were deported between the mid 1950s and 60s.  Therefore, some of their mothers are alive and some are not.  Margaret continues the search for truth on their behalf with the support of her husband Merv when others accuse her of lying.  She also sacrifices much time away from her husband and children as she frequently travels to Australia to meet with these survivors.  All in all, there were about 130,000 children deported and Margaret's work continues to this day.

Although this is an emotional movie it is highly recommended as it demonstrates the impact that once social worker can have on the lives of many!

Social Workers in the Movies: The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler

In this post I will be discussing the movie The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler staring Anna Paquin.  The movie tells of Social Worker Irene Sendler who lived from 1910- 2008 and who served in the Polish Underground during the Second World War.  Irene worked for the Social Welfare Department during this time and had access to the Warsaw Ghetto.

In the movie, Irene witnesses orphaned children living on the streets of the Ghetto and often assists her Jewish friends by providing them with food and clothing.  Irene lives with her ailing mother and makes it her mission to assist Jewish children.

When funding is cut for the Ghetto and rumours spread that the Jewish people are not returning from concentration camps alive, Irene and her willing co-workers devise plans of smuggling Jewish children out of the Ghetto.  They hide babies and dress older children to look like "gentiles" and with the assistance of a priest, they find temporary homes for these children with supportive Polish families.

Eventually Irene is asked by the Polish Underground if she is willing to work with them.  Irene agrees and they supply her finds for the cause.  They also provide Irene with false documents for the children.

Irene attends a meeting with Jewish community members in the Ghetto to discuss her plan.  The Rabbis discuss whether or not the Jewish children should remain in the Ghetto with their family members, or risk the unknown and send these children to live with Polish families.  It is a difficult decision as one Rabbi is concerned that the children will be converted and will lose their cultural and religious traditions.  Irene assures them that she has kept a record of all of the children smuggled out of the Ghetto and that the plan is to reunite them with family members after the war.

After saving an amazing 2,500 Jewish children, Irene is arrested and beaten by the Nazis, however she does not give up any information about the Underground.  In jail, Irene becomes reunited with a co-worker who assisted her in the cause.  Irene and the other women who are imprisoned with her are set to be executed.  However, the Nazis are bribed to save Irene's life by the Underground and she escapes, while her friend is executed.

Irene returns home to her sick mother but the plan is made for Irene to go to the mountainside where it is safer. 

In 1947 Irene married her Jewish friend Stefan who worked in an orphanage in the Ghetto.

In 2007, Irene was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts during the Holocaust. 

As a sad end note, many of these rescued chldren could not be reuinted with their family members after the war because their family members did not survive the Holocaust.

Overall, this was a very moving true story about one Social Worker (and her friends) against the Nazis.  She put her own life at risk to save countless children, which is something not many of us could imagine having to do in our daily jobs.  If you are feeling helpless in your position right now, I would recommend watching this movie (it's available on Youtube) for some inspiration.

Being Persistent

I have often been referred to as stubborn but I like to view it more as resilience or persistence!

In the field of social work, being persistent is an innate trait.  When we work with difficult clients and they resist, we are persistent.  When clients are unsure of their own abilities to change, we persist that it is possible.  When we ourselves feel like giving up under a sea of paperwork and lack of respect we persistently wade through these negative realities.

Being persistent does not mean always looking on the bright side however.  We have to be realistic for the changes that our clients are working towards.  They may not achieve all of their goals but even if their situation improves it is a major milestone!

Overall, being persistent means keeping a alive a small hope that things will get better and that results will come, albeit eventually.

Support Systems

If you work in the field of social work, having a network of support is vital to survive the ups and downs that you are likely to experience in your job.

As a social worker, you have unique needs when it comes to requiring emotional and mental support.  Oftentimes you are exposed to the tragedies of life that few can understand.  I consider it to be a "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" if you work in the field because likely it is only other people in the helping professions who can understand how draining the job can be.  Social workers have constant pressure on them to juggle files, manage risk and take immediate action in emergencies.  Rarely can we afford a sick day as we feel that our clients are depending on us.  And often we get blamed when clients are unhappy about decisions we make even though these decisions are determined by policies and risk.  To many people we are the bad guys.

Therefore, after experiencing all this negativity day in and day out we feel that we need to vent.  The first people to hear us are our partners, children, or parents.  If they are not in a helping field they may have a hard time understanding the unique responsibilities we have and the guilt we feel when things don't work out as we would like them to.  For our friends, many cannot fathom the horror stories and they get tired of listening to what our day job is like.  Slowly normality slips away and we become desensitised to the abuse, drug addiction, poverty, neglect and crises that we deal with everyday.  But that is why it is good to have support from people outside the field - they provide us with a perspective that usually we have lost.

Oftentimes those close to us will ask us why we continue to be in this field, exposing ourselves to all the ills of society.  They can see the emotional, physical and mental toll it takes on us sometimes and it hurts them as they feel they cannot help us.  For those social workers whose loved ones don't support them at all, they can feel especially isolated.

Other forms of support can include co-workers or those within the helping field in general like police officers, nurses, teachers, principals or psychologists.  Sharing our stories and the similarities of our work can provide a sense of comfort and can help dispel the isolation.  However, it is important to maintain friendships outside the helping arena as well since we don't want to be focused on our work constantly.

It is difficult to put into words the importance of helpful support systems in our lives.  They can brighten our mood after an especially hard day, provide much needed perspective, and give a voice of reason when we are feeling completely engulfed in the problems that surround us.

My only advice is that every once and a while you thank these supportive people in your life for making dealing with your job easier.  Oftentimes I don't think I could do this job without the help I receive behind the scenes!

Stress Leave and the Social Worker

If you work in a busy social work office, it's likely that a good portion of your co-workers have taken stress leave at some point or another.

Here are some things that could have triggered it:

• Working with a particularly challenging client whereby you feel that your mental, emotional or physical health has been compromised
• Having been given a difficult decision by management which you must carry out, even if it goes against your ethics
• Working too much overtime without getting enough time off
• Not taking needed vacations and carrying the unused portions over to the following years
• If you are in an office with a very high turnover rate and you are one of the more experience workers left, it is likely that your caseload will significantly increase
• Dealing with a personal family issue or medical condition/illness that often interferes with your work
• Clashing with co-workers, supervisors or management whereby you feel like you have no control over your job
•  Having to deal with one crisis after another at work whereby you never get a mental break
• Often listening to the traumatic stories of others which in turn traumatises you and makes you feel helpless
• Being in the wrong social work job which does not match your skills, abilities or values
• Being blamed by management or clients when something goes wrong when you tried to do your best
• Limited training opportunities which means you are left to deal with situations that you do not know how to handle
• Not getting support from family members/friends about your field of work i.e. them questioning your choice of profession or criticising you about the nature of social work

There are many more things that could be added to this list depending on the social worker's personal experience and what they have witnessed other social workers go through.

After social workers experience enough of these triggers they often hit a wall where they know that they HAVE to have a break.  At this point there is no choice, no deliberation or questioning.  The social worker needs to stop working for a period of time to retain their sanity.  They may be devastated or ashamed when they realise this but it is IMPERATIVE that they seek help before the situation get any worse.

It might be useful to write out your feelings in a journal and then present it to the doctor when you are becoming concerned about the amount of stress in your life.  The doctor may recommend medication, counselling, a stress leave or that you change jobs.  The stress leave could range to a couple of weeks to a month or even longer.  The doctor will provide you with a note to give to your employer.  If you do not feel comfortable with your employer knowing it is due to stress, then ask the doctor to be very general when writing the note.  Once you are on leave, your work should not pressure you to return beforehand, ask when you are going to get better, or ask for a lot of details about your illness.  Only give your employer information that you are comfortable with.  Although stress is common in the field of social work, it's hard to tell how your employer will react.  I have also heard stories of employers telling employees confidential medical information about other social workers.  You just never know and you have to protect yourself.

During your stress leave try not to be too hard on yourself.  You can let things slide for a little while.  Don't worry if your home isn't perfectly clean or if you act pretty much like a homebody.  This is the time for you to rest and recharge.  It is also an important time for self-reflection.  Ask yourself the big questions: what really caused me to go on stress leave - was it just an unfortunate serious of events, or could I see this coming for a long time?  Am I in the right area of social work?  Are there other areas of my life that contributed to this stress?  How do I need to change my life so I can avoid this situation again?  What type of professional help do I need to support me right now?  What do my closest friends and family think?  Do they honestly believe that the position I have right now is wrong for me?  What about the entire social work field - can I truly handle the daily emotional aspects of the job and the other mental and physical risks that go along with it?

You may not get all your answers within the period of time that you are on stress leave.  And that's ok.  Overall, you have to take care of yourself first before you can help others.  Sometimes we take jobs with the best intentions and they are just not right for us.  And worst off, sometimes after all the education it takes to become a social worker we realise we are in the wrong field.  It can be extremely painful to realise we made such a big mistake but it's part of life and it only leads to personal self discovery.  You may learn that you like the idea of helping people in general but do not want to know all their intricacies and problems.  That's ok.  I truly believe that there is a spot for each of this in this world and it just takes time to figure out our place.

Being On-Call

In many social work organisations, once the worker gains enough experience they are expected to be on-call for emergencies.  This is especially true for child welfare since often children in these crisis situations cannot wait until morning.

Depending on where you work, being on-call might be voluntary as there are usually a few people around the office willing to take on the additional shifts because it means additional money.  However, at other agencies it can be mandatory to be on the on-call roster unless say, you have a scheduled vacation, or have a medical note to back up why you can't be on-call.

The training programs that most agencies have are close to nil when it comes to being on-call.  Many workers are understandably nervous before their first shift.  This is especially true for the social worker in the office who usually does not have an investigative position.

Here are some points I have for the worker who is going on-call for the first time:

• Ensure that you take the on-call cell phone home with you and make sure that it is charged.  If there is no designated on-call phone then make sure the appropriate people know how to reach you - which means your home phone and cell phone
• Try to get a good nights rest even though you are concerned you might get calls during the night
• Lay out a set of clothes before you go to bed just in case you have to get dressed in a hurry if there is an emergency
• If you have children, have a baby-sitter or relative stay the night if you are a single parent and have no other responsible adult in the home in case there is an emergency you have to go out on
• Make sure you have a list of important numbers with you in case you have to call the police or other important crisis responders.  This should be in a binder or booklet along with other important paperwork
• Before you leave the office ensure that the on-call binder is complete so that you have everything you need in case you have to go out on a call
• Have the appropriate supervisor's contact information so that you can consult with them on calls
• For potentially dangerous situations inform the police and make a plan to meet with them before going to the home
• If your agency uses an after hours safety call centre, inform them when you are going out and give them the address
• Before you are on-call consult with your colleagues and supervisor if there is anything additional or important you need to know about being on-call.  Also ask for a copy of the agency on-call protocol before your first shift
• Before and after your period of being on-call try and get as much rest as possible since there could be several nights where you do not get enough sleep
• If you can choose, do not take too many on-call shifts in a row since this will burn you out
• If it is mandatory that you be on-call for a long period of time, try and negotiate times each month etc when you will NOT be on-call since again, you do not want to burn out
• Ensure that you have all the necessary training first before going-on call.  If you are missing some important and necessary training speak to your supervisor beforehand to see if you can attend it

Being on call is not easy, especially since it's pretty impossible to make plans during that period.  You also have to wrestle with possibility of putting in a full day's work during the night and then having to work another full day the next morning.  Do not be hard on yourself if you are tired, make mistakes or are working a little slower.  Remember, social workers are not superhuman!

Anxiety and the Social Worker

Anxiety is something that social workers can feel at every stage of their career.  For the newbie, there is anxiety about the amount of new expectations and pressure they face.  This is probably the first time they ever felt this much responsibility in their life.

Then for the social worker who has been in the field for a few years, they can feel anxiety over aspects of the job that are most difficult for them.  This could include apprehending, testifying in court, confronting families etc.  It really depends on the worker.  Some do not like conflict while others can take it in stride.

Then there is the experienced social worker who feels anxiety about the never ending nature of the work.  Many have shared stories with me about how they feel like they are drowning.  They no longer feel like they can keep up and consider themselves not up to par with other social workers because of it - which is seriously not true!

Social workers can feel anxiety about the lack of supervision or feedback they get from their supervisor, especially if they are new to the position.  Social workers also often take themselves to task if they make a mistake.  But what can they do if they are presented with a lack of information that their employer does not give them: like what protocols to use and what measures of assessments are required for that particular area of social work.

Our anxiety levels can also be raised when we are exposed to the traumatic stories of our clients.  Oftentimes they feel hopeless and so do we if we are not given much time or resources to help them.  Listening to so many negative stories can make us doubt there is any humanity left in the world.  It can make us anxious for ourselves, our family members and our friends when we realise all the terrible possibilities of what could happen.

If we don't get a break from our anxiety, such a having a positive work/life balance, the results can be devastating.  The anxiety that we have from work often leaks into our personal lives whereby we cannot relax and just be ourselves.  We can be hyper vigilant to risks and be less prone to step outside our comfort zone.  In essence, we can lose what truly makes us who we are.  What we get instead is a shell of worry, fear, and stress.

If sufficient breaks are not available during the working day, including taking a full hour for lunch, there is no opportunity to take a deep breath and unwind.  We go, go, go and then carry that anxiety with us after work.  It may then affect our sleep, our eating habits and our overall emotions.  Some people resort to taking medication just for a reprieve.

So then what are our options?  What can we do to relieve or manage the anxiety that we face at work?  One could be asking for more support from our supervisors and co-workers if it is possible.  Another step could be trying to do a relaxing activity maybe once a week and then gradually increase it.  Going to your family doctor is also important as unfortunately you might need to eventually go on stress leave if your anxiety becomes so unmanageable that you can no longer handle your work tasks.  You want to be honest about your situation with your doctor so that they know when you are really struggling and need help.  Seeing a counsellor to discuss your feelings is also another option.

Some people find that once they take a leave from work they feel recharged, while others realise that the anxiety is inherent with that particular job and they need to find another.

Anxiety levels can also be raised with stressors outside of work such as a death in the family, marriage, move etc.  Add that to your daily anxiety from work and it's a recipe for disaster!  All in all, as social workers we need to take care of our own physical and mental health before we can help others as our work should never cause us so much anxiety that we can no longer function properly in our lives.

Letter to My Future Self

To celebrate the one month anniversary of my blog and over one hundred views, I decided to do a more personal post.  A little while back I wrote a letter to myself (thank you O Magazine for the idea which I turned backwards!) to give encouragement to my goals and dreams.  I wanted to give my ego a boost that I was on the right track and that no matter what I should keep moving forward with how I want my life to be - no matter what the naysayers think.

While you read this letter my hope is that you will think carefully about how you want your life to be in the future.  It is often said that once we imagine something it makes it easier to achieve it.  Other people may feel more comfortable with the concept of letting go of the past so perhaps considering writing a letter to your younger self might be more relevant.  Either way I hope you take the time today to reflect on yourself - where you have been, where you are now and where you would like to go.

Dear Future Self,

I want to congratulate you on the journey you've made so far.  It hasn't always been easy and there have been some hard decisions that you have had to make.  However, I know with each passing year you have become stronger and you know yourself better.  And this has been a hard lesson to learn.  You encountered many years of uncertainty with yourself but you have since come to trust your instincts and it has not led you astray.  You have pioneered and made the best decisions that were right for you.  Often this took a lot of patience, strength and tenacity but you made your life a success.  You learnt that accomplishment does not come from external successes but meeting the personal goals you have set out for yourself.  You have decided to live your ordinary life in the most extraordinary way - just as you wanted.  You have challenged your assumptions and thoughts with your openness, honesty and genuineness.  You have touched the lives of many people in your own way.  You decided not to make traditional choices and put happiness before money.  You accepted the physical distance between you and your family and learnt not to be lonely.  You told yourself that it is ok to be who you are and you don't have to change.  You took the road less travelled and had a life all the better because of it.

Love,

Patti

Now, if you wrote a letter to your younger or future self, what would it say?