When I Grow Up

That is the beginning of a sentence that most of us can remembering answering since as far back as kindergarten. And as most of us recall the answers were usually firefighters, nurses, teachers, scientists, Presidents, etc. However, you never heard children saying they wanted to be accountants or work for the IRS. So how in the heck did I end up crunching numbers for a living? To be truthful I really like what I do and I am very passionate about it (pass the barf bag please). While I do like my actual "career" I don't think it's quite exciting enough. No wonder little Johnny in the back of the class never said he aspired to be a number cruncher for a living.
Somewhere along the way we get lost into the traditional career track and lose sight of what really excites us. I feel like I'm so consumed with work that I have forgotten about the things that I actually like to do when there is time permitting. I think people who have children are blessed because they actually get to live through their children's eyes which brings back that innocent fun loving individual but for those of us who don't have children yet it can sometimes be a barrier. It definitely takes more of a self-discovery journey to find those things that we have "lost". Now my husband has a wide array of interests that he enjoys such as golf, poker, bowling, and many many more. While I do like to read I would like to hope that on my gravestone I'm not remembered by the sentence "She loved to read". I mean that makes me sound really lame and flat.
I think it's all about aligning my life around my personality. I work in an office with no windows and basically argue with numbers all day until I'm blue in the face. I would like to consider myself a social butterfly and an outgoing person which does not align with independent work at all. I'm in the process of revamping my career goals to satisfy my current career situation. I mean it is possible to be an accountant and be outgoing and social. CPAs get to visit multiple clients, they get summers off to spend time with their children, they get to consult clients on various issues, etc. In college I didn't want to even think about trying to sit for the CPA exam because it would require me sitting in for one more grueling semester and then spend a year studying for something that I may or may not pass. But isn't that what life is about...taking chances?
So all of this is getting at the point that I'm going to return to school and finish those grueling 13 hours so that I can sit for the CPA exam in a year or so. I've talked with Brad and he agrees that it would be a good career move since it will add more of the aspects that I like to my job. The kid in me wants to retire early and take trips around the world but the adult in me knows that I won't be able to get there unless I step it up now. Wish me luck!