Hello Readers,
The summer has been passing by so quickly that I have not written as often as I would have liked to. But I am hoping to make up for it with this post.
Sometimes as Social Workers we focus so much on the hopes and dreams of others that we often forget about what inspires us in our own lives. We may have goals for ourselves but only see them as a fixed destination and not a journey. I also don't believe we should consider our dreams as solitary to one specific area of our lives. Our dreams can have a big impact on our family life, careers and so on.
Few Social Workers I have met who have been in the field for a long time talk about their dreams (other then the obvious retirement)! It's as if having big goals for your life is seen as superior or lofty to others. Or maybe your co-workers are jealous that you have actually been able to identify goals for yourself. As Social Workers we are rarely encouraged to dream, think outside the box and be creative (at least in the work environments I have been in). It's like your whole existence must be about your job.
Fighting the status quo has always been my stance/curse. I am always bringing forward new ideas to do things differently professionally, and personally I have rarely followed the norm. It just isn't in my blood. However, I feel as though I am at a crossroads in my life in taking the traditional path or the road less travelled. Opportunities are opening up to me that I could so easily take but I doubt they would make me happy. Yet, there are also opportunities/dreams that come with some risk and which I will have to battle hard for but they will provide me with a great sense of accomplishment once achieved.
I wish goals and dreams came with a handbook. What do you do when you have several and you don't know which one should be the priority? When do you know that you should let go of a dream when you're fairly certain you're not going to be successful at it? As Social Workers we can be cheerleaders inspiring those around us to reach for their dreams but we can't forget to ask ourselves what we really want in life and how we are going to support ourselves enough to achieve it.
As Always,
Patti
