Fear On The Job Market
When I was young, I liked to look at a picture book that was all about jobs. It frightened me a bit because I wanted to learn more about how I was going to be a vet and have a mansion, and be rich. How could I do this in the real world? My fear is not having financial security and not having the right job. What is financial security, you ask? Financial security is having the financial state that you have enough money to survive. In my family, financial security has always been in the back of our minds. The thing is, I feel preordained to be a doctor, lawyer, professor, or scientist because I need to achieve this. All of these jobs give a good income and provide financial security. I remember when I was eight, my mother and father were frantically talking about managing the store my father owned and my father said: “Gwen, never be self employed! Just get an easy job, like a doctor. ”
I went back to reading my book, but it lingered in my mind. How could I acquire financial security? What jobs could I get? My idea of a good job was a job that I could read books and drink capri-sun at my desk. That was the day that my fear came out.
Another thing that contributed to my fear was aftermath of the recession. I lived through this after period of joblessness. Many of my friends parents were out of jobs and many other people I knew were too . I said to myself, “ Will this be me, when I’m older?’, “Will I have to get a whole new job,and face taxes,feeding my children,and other money related issues?” I heard my parents sitting on the couch after I went to sleep and fighting about taxes and other issues. It made me nervous and upset. When I saw pictures in the news of homeless people, I was very confused and afraid at such a premature age . I would not let this happen to myself. I axed my dreams of being a reporter and a vet. I said to myself,
“I’m gonna be a scientist or doctor.’’ That was that. I said dreams are overrated, and left it there.
If you are wondering, I have never gotten over my fear. I have never really said what I truly want to be. I have always been extremely careful about money, and the idea of speculating about the future makes me sad. What do I want to be? I want to be a UN ambassador. That sounds like it might be frivolous and far fetched, but I think it would be fascinating. That’s what I truly want to be, but if I’m in the real world, I’ll pick what’s best for my bank account, not myself . But sometimes,when I think about my fear, I say “If you are only picking a job for money, how are you going to have goals to motivate you? Your goals would be just to get more money .” I feel like if I wanted to do a job that would be money motivated, my work would be hollow, with no meaning.
I think to be successful, you have to have the right amount of being grounded and having dreams. Many successful people have reachable dreams, that they can follow and use it to motivate yourself. Success is not always about money, it’s not always about good jobs or such. It can be about helping others, or making change in a community. I can have a well rounded,fulfilling life without always being rich or always having a full bank account. If I really want a good job, why don’t I follow my dreams? My dream job is respectful and fulfills my needs. And when I think about this, I say my fear of not having the right job is foolish. I can have the life I want without being a doctor, lawyer, or scientist.