It is only on the rarest of occasions that I lose sleep at
night, the thoughts that infrequently waking me being those surrounding the
well being of a child, even if that child is now 6’5” and 170 lbs.
Last night, a friend of mine told me that her well-educated,
accomplished and highly employable son, quit his job. He absolutely could not
stand going to his place of employment every day. Although his work filled a
void for a time, offering him the opportunity to purchase assets and feel
financially settled, he hasn’t enjoyed it for a long time.
Our accrued assets and financial freedom only lasts so long
before one’s gut aches, or physical and emotional conditions associated with
the deep unhappiness that one actually feels inside, begin to manifest. I do
not think that the building up of assets is a bad thing, nor do I believe that
we should undervalue our material life but we have to be careful not to
overvalue it.
Last night I woke up because I was thinking about him and
how I would like him to know how courageous I think he is. I feel in the same
way that Jean Stapleton’s character, Birdie Conrad, from You’ve Got Mail
espouses; that he is “daring to imagine something else” for him and although it
may be frightening, it is also freeing. My thoughts envelop this brave young
man knowing that even if he chooses to enter back into the profession that he
has prepared for, he will go into it in a much more settled and healthy manner.
~ Ellyn
