Catch the Trade Wind in Your Sails
First, one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Today I want to issue a challenge to you. I was touched with some of the recent comments on this blog as people get to know each other and share a bit of their lives. As you all know from my post about being a Linchpin, I think there is such value in just DOING what you are passionate about and going out and making a difference. And yet, sometimes we just don’t do that.
Think about that. What is it that you are passionate about? And are you doing it? Eight months ago, I had what I believed for 8 years was my dream job. I could not imagine ever being anywhere else. In the midst of many changes in our industry, in the company, and in our world’s economy, I was told I was being “furloughed,” which six weeks later turned into “laid off” and that dream job was gone. With it, went a lot of things I always believed were important. It was a rough time. I think the emotions one goes through when you’re in that situation are much like a death, and you just have to go through the stages. You also have to separate what you know from what you feel. I have, as many of you know, a wonderful Bajan husband. We’re newlyweds, and will be celebrating our first anniversary in June. In the midst of everything, his response was a simple one, yet one I will never forget: “From the day we met, God has always had a plan. This is no different and it will be fine.” Thank goodness for him because there were days when I wondered how we would make things work. It was, you see, a chance to write a new story in my life, and in his as well. And so we ran with it and decided it would be good to see where it went. Changes like this can be scary, exciting, every emotion you can possibly think of!
So what happened? YOU are a part of what happened. I have long felt a need for a community where medical transcriptionists could come together, encourage each other, and learn together. An opportunity to share some of the years of knowledge I have gained in my time in the industry. An opportunity to provide continuing education opportunities for the profession I love and that has served me so well over the years. And so, this website and the HIPAA4MT website were born. And then the Nicholls Leadership Institute came about. Let me be clear, it’s not about what Kathy Nicholls does or creates. It’s about the wonderful opportunity that each of you gives me by coming here, by reading what I write, by participating with your comments, and by just being a part of the community. It’s about the opportunity you give to me to make a small difference in our world. I just might be able to play a small role in helping someone realize that dream to do something awesome. How powerful is that! For that, I am thankful.
So what is it in your own life that you’re putting off and just need to do? Is it a part of your focus today? If not, will you regret it in 20 years? Don’t wait for that 20 year mark to look back and have regrets. Get out and do it now! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Related posts:
- There is Always Life After
- Building Unusual Relationships
- Mentoring
- Life Lessons From The Dog: Guest Post
- Happy MT Week Saturday: Be a Linchpin
Tagged with: Goals • happiness • values • writing your life story
Filed under: Goals • Professional Development
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Many years ago, I had a dream of being a professional singer. At the initial stages of this, I was married to my first husband who one day finally just “had enough” of my talking about it and told me to just quit my (Honeywell) job and pursue it then. At the time, I had been singing on weekends with a band, but it was just things like for dances at the American Legion or weddings, etc. So, I quit my job and started trying to get more serious about being a professional singer. I soon discovered that my contacts were too few and I was going nowhere, and we really needed my income to take care of our bills and to hopefully have something “left over” for fun stuff. I eventually ended up going back to work, but I still didn’t give up on my dream. Over the years, I divorced and remarried (twice), and happily my current, third, and final husband (I swear!) really enjoys music also. When we were initially dating, we lived in Texas and there was an actual recording studio there, so I grabbed my prerecorded background music and made a CD at Christmastime that I used as a Christmas gift for friends and family. (I had actually done something similar the year before but very amateurish–using my “home karaoke” system, I recorded onto cassette a number of songs and then duplicated them for Christmas gifts, but the difference in the quality of the recordings between that first year and the second was amazing!) It also happened that in the first year or so of this marriage, I “won” a recording session at “Big Mama Studios” in Sevierville, Tennessee…yes, just down the road from Dollywood. I drove there alone, and I can’t even BELIEVE I made it in one piece as generally I’m quite a nervous driver when it comes to going anywhere alone for the first time–driving alone in unfamiliar territory. Anyway, I made it, recorded a lovely “country music CD” which, again, I used for gifts for friends and family. THIS CD I could actually sell, but I’d have to keep all kinds of records and pay royalties if I sold them, so instead I just used them as gifts. At any rate, a number of years have elapsed since I initially “started in the music business” and I have come to meet some quite influential and talented people online through a country music chat room, etc. In “conversations” with them, and through the process of submitting what some would consider “audition tapes” to a few people/companies as well as comments I have received from people who have listened to my CDs, I know that I have a good voice, better than a lot of people, but I’m NOT going to be a professional singer by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps I might in some future reincarnation, but not in this lifetime.
There are MANY hundreds of THOUSANDS of very talented people in the world who don’t “get a break” because they just don’t know the “right people.” In a lot of ways, I believe that is or could be true of me. There are only a few hundred (and that might be stretching it) who actually have an extremely satisfying and successful career in music as just a singer. (I’m too self-conscious about making mistakes to play an instrument–my piano teacher when I was a kid absolutely ruined me for this as every time I made a mistake, she made me stop and start over…and, while I don’t start over anymore, I definitely “hesitate” when I make a mistake in a piece when I’m on my keyboard.) I don’t think the situation is necessarily FAIR, with a few people seeming to have an “in,” and these people aren’t necessarily as talented as some other very deserving people….but that is the way life is and the way the world operates.
Anyway, over the years I have come to realize that I have other skills. I DO get a very good feeling from producing a really GOOD document…no typos, good grammar and punctuation. Heck! I can really make a doctor look good, you know? (And I have used some other jobs completed by other MTs as “work samples” when I have difficulty with a doctor that have, sorry to say this, made me cringe! How those jobs didn’t get picked out in a QA audit or how the MTs themselves didn’t realize the errors they were making…well, I guess we all make mistakes, and I’m no better than anyone else though I like to think I’m a perfectionist.)
Anyway, I have the satisfaction of knowing I have a GOOD voice that people can enjoy, but I am being realistic when I place this now on a back burner with “hobbies I really love” and enjoy going to karaoke when I can (although it’s now probably been over 4 years since I did that). With all the ups and downs in the medical transcription industry right now, I am proud to say that the only times I have been without work are ones that I chose to have–basically when my husband was changing jobs and I needed to have the time off to pack, move, and then unpack and feather the new nest, you know? And as soon as the new place was organized and operating, I got back to work!
I guess in a way I set a goal, tried, in a way failed but also in a way succeeded, because I came to an understanding with myself about it. I’m going to be 56 years old this August. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t want to struggle with “getting established” with something. I kind of LIKE being the me that I am, doing a good job with what I AM doing…looking forward to sticking with this career until I can’t do it anymore (either my hands or my mind will be shot–okay, MUCH WORSE than they are right now). I still sing in church, I still sing in the shower, I’m still open to going to karaoke even if I haven’t been in quite some time. I’m still a “ham.” The thought of being a professional singer doesn’t hold the glamor I once thought it would; in fact, I realize that it’s actually “harder work” than I would want to be doing at my age–all that traveling, being away from home and probably my husband, the long hours, lack of sleep, etc. I’ve streamlined my goals and dreams, and I’m happy with that.
Sherry Evans you sound like such a wonderful person!
Thanks, Angie. You know, I’m not really used to receiving compliments so I’m probably blushing. I have often actually thought about writing that “great American novel” that a lot of people think they have inside them. I’ve even created a notebook with LISTS in it…possible character names (these are names I love and actually have thought about naming my children, if I ever had any–which I never did), possible settings around the country or world (I even have done some actual research on them so that descriptions could be quite accurate), possibly story lines, etc. I doubt I’ll ever have the time to actually think this out and write a book, but you never know. It might just be that my hands could quit cooperating with me and I could invest in some of that voice-recognition software myself and write my book via speaking it? Oh, well…I guess we never really do quit dreaming, and I would still be able to work at home! That’s pretty cool.
Sherry, you inspire me! Thank you for sharing your story.
I guess that I kinda believe that when you no longer dream, you probably aren’t really living anymore but maybe more just going through the motions. It’s almost like the difference between just “putting fuel in your body” to keep it going vs really ENJOYING every single bite you put into your mouth. Maybe I’m more a cup-half-full person because I tend to look at the positives and the potentials rather than the negatives and believing that everything is impossible or out of reach. As much as I enjoy learning new things, I almost believe that when I die, my brain is going to just keep on living–kinda like on that old Star Trek episode when the alien lady removes Spock’s brain and houses it in this big glass ball, and it’s used to basically power a huge computer that keeps their entire civilization going; meanwhile Spock’s body is put on a type of “life support” until they can find his brain and put it back! LOL Omigosh! I just looked in the mirror and actually tried to picture myself with Vulcan ears! LOLOL (I guess you’d have to see it to understand how ridiculous I would look as a Vulcan, or would that be Vulcaness? LOL) Anyway, I hope others post in here what their dreams are. It would be really cool to read what other people’s lofty ambitions would allow them to attain in a perfect world, or even in the imperfect one we have. What would you say your goals and dreams are, Angie?
Oops…and Lisa?
Sherry…..
You and I are the same age. I will be 56 in September!
My recent goal/dream was the use my professional writing and editing skills (from former careers) in a new way. In 2008, I made that happen when I started MT school. My new goal, as I’ve mentioned here earlier, is to get my RMT.
I suddenly lost my very best friend to cancer in 2007. When that happened, I felt like a part of my life just disappeared. After I got myself together and kept telling myself that “life is too short,” I started to make things happen in my life that I really wanted to do…MT school, traveling, unloading “baggage” from past hurts, etc. It gave me a totally new perspective on things.
P.S. Like Kathy, I am a “newlywed.” Mark and I will be married 5 years this July….second marriage for both of us.
You are so right Kathy. Life is too short to wait. This year I lost a wonderful man who had been by my side for over 13 years. He became ill about 8 years ago and we made a conscious decision that we wanted to make memories rather than accumulate “stuff.” His health lasted well until nearly the end. It was a time when we purposefully made things happen sooner rather than later. So we did a couple of trips to Massachusetts (my home state), did Disneyland like real tourists, and a cruise around Hawaii. Each spring we would immerse ourselves in our adopted state of Arizona We flew over the Grand Canyon, walked on the overhang over Grand Canyon West, and took a helicopter down to the Colorado River for a boat ride. We went to Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon, the painted desert, and Canyon de Chelly. We visited Kartchner Caverns, Tombstone, and Bisbee. We walked on London Bridge (which I had done in London in 1968). His wish was for ME to do exciting things … indoor skydiving, real skydiving, aerobatics in a WWII training plane, glider flights. He had no desire to do the adventure things, but got such a kick out of my joy. Now that I am starting to breathe again, I realize there are more things to do and more places to see. Since his body can’t be with me, I take some of his ashes on new adventures or returns to old favorites and sprinkle a bit of him so he can share. Never did get in that hot air balloon ride. Guess now is as good a time as any
In some ways I envy you, Crystal. It seems like when we have the TIME to do things we want to do, we don’t have the MONEY. When we have the MONEY, we don’t have the TIME. Seeing how my husband is averaging about 3 years per job since I’ve known him, I should probably look forward to putting our house on the market in the next year and getting ready to move again. I have decided, though, that if we actually DO move again, I am going to get “ruthless” when it comes to clearing out “stuff.” If we move again, I want to live in an apartment and never own a house again and have all the expense both in time and money of upkeep and taxes and all that stuff. I just don’t think we are cut out to be home owners, no matter how much we convince ourselves every so often that we are. I remember listening to my mom say how she and my dad would travel once he retired, but they stayed in debt because of mortgage, medical bills, etc., and never could afford to travel…and I can see myself being in that same boat when I’m old enough to retire. (I know I haven’t mentioned this in here previously, but I am 19 years older than my husband, and that means a definite “delay” in any retirement plans for the 2 of us. By the time he is old enough to retire, I’ll be probably in a nursing home…but he promises to come and push me around in my wheelchair! LOL
Don’t give up on skydiving or going on a balloon ride or anything you can do to just enjoy life! Heaven knows there are so many things out there in the world that tend to be overly serious and just drag us and our moods down all the time. In fact, along the way to making yourself happy on that balloon ride, why don’t you see if you’d be allowed to bring a friend with you and find someone who really needs that “boost” in their life and share the joy? You have known the love of someone who got enjoyment from seeing YOU be happy…maybe you can double your joy by paying it forward while you are airborne yourself? Kinda like being an “un-secret Santa” or something. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been able to enjoy doing things WITH someone else rather than just being alone, even though technically you won’t be alone because I’m sure there will be a balloon “pilot.” I envy you, truly….and I also believe that you, like me, are a cup-half-full lady, and I think you are always going to lead a very interesting life!
I have taken the plunge and have quit working as an employee for anyone – including MT companies. I am an IC for a group group of clinics and work remotely. No time cards, no asking for time off, no micromanaging. Of course no vacation pay, no sick leave, but I don’t need it. With no stress, I am not sick. I have my own computer and can do as I wish on it. No IT person coming on it remotely uninvited to see what I’m doing. No set hours, no nothing. No QA team dinging you for misplaced hyphens or commas and then having your pay reduced. Not that we don’t make mistakes, we do, but we are not fired for them. And working directly for the clinics is so much better than have a service take charge. And we are paid more than any service I ever worked for. They are actually saving money from having to pay what services charge. And unlike being self-employed with my OWN contracts, I don’t have to find somebody to take over if I’m gone. That is really great.
I have never felt freer. I just turned 60 and after 40 years at this business, I think I deserve it.
I ride bikes with my husband, hike, and play flute in the community band. We travel usually on short trips. Life is good. I just have done this sooner, but I guess I just wasn’t ready. I’m ready now!
Oops – didn’t proof very good, did I. The last line should be “I should have done this sooner” == think I started to put “I just wish I would have done this.. .” anyway, you get the picture.
Congrats, Gwen!
Sherry and Gwen, you both have wonderful stories. Thanks. Am about to purchase a laptop so my job can be truly portable … as if I were a military spouse
There’s no real reason I can’t spend summers in New England (or Denver, or Oshkosh B’Gosh) and winters here in Arizona (or Florida, or south Texas). I told a young man who was desperately looking for a wife, “make your life so much fun others will want to join you.” Am going to take my own advice and make dreams come true for myself, not just because someone else was enthused.
From a career point of view, would love the freedom of being independent, but I just don’t have the patience for marketing, accounting, management, or customer service. Not to mention that at age 58 the warranty was up a while ago
so being without health insurance would be too risky in my book. As Sherry said, she’s not cut out to be a homeowner. I’m not cut out to be an independent contractor. To me the extra cash isn’t worth the extra headaches. Vive le difference!
Yep, Crystal….it’s the differences between each (and all) of us that makes life interesting. Imagine holding a conversation where all you ever hard in response was, “I know…” because everyone was the same…BORING! I’m sure genetics, peers, environmental influences, and a bunch of things are what contribute to making us each unique individuals when compared to others. I wish that every single country, nationality, ethnic group, religion, you name it IN THE WORLD could take France’s motto to heart: Vive la difference! While it is important to share characteristics, bonds, backgrounds sometimes, I still say life is MUCH more interesting because people ARE different from each other. What trips my trigger definitely doesn’t work for my sister, what works for me may not work for you, etc. I really think it’s only possible to LEARN something new from someone who is UNLIKE me, and I never poke fun at people because of differences because usually I find something to envy about the differences and end up trying to imitate or emulate. I just think people can be so cool! All in all, we are pretty amazing.
Gwen, as someone who has worked with you before, I am so happy to see this. It sort of mirrors my own feelings about the changes in my life in the last few months. It’s good to do what you are passionate about and to feel great about it at the same time. I’m so glad you found that!
I hardly know where to start. I took some time this morning to attend a webinar, and come here to see all of these comments from last night. Wow. Amazing stories. You see, it IS about each of us writing our own story, whatever that is, and just being sure that the story you write is awesome. Thank you all for sharing so much of yourself here!
I guess this is for Crystal AND Kathy.
Crystal, you mentioned getting a laptop. I have used a laptop in the past and really loved it. My husband tends to do quite a bit of traveling for his job. It might be one day, it might be that he’d be gone 2 nights at a time. When I had my laptop…well, I actually still have it, but it is so out of date and slow that I virtually only use it to store recipes on anymore…anyway, I used to accompany him on his trips since he always got a room by himself, even if one of the other men in the company traveled with him. It worked out well as I got to still do my work (I was able to connect to the internet everywhere we went without any difficulties), I got to have dinner with him every night, and I got to see a bit more of the world than if I were just sitting at my desktop computer at my home. Having a laptop is a great idea for our type of work! And I’m truly beginning to think that with this Benchmark KB that absolutely no other references are going to be necessary between what it offers and other internet references I can find. It’s a match made in heaven! Thanks again, Kathy!
Kathy,
That was a great, inspiring post. I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you!
Well, we ought to have a giant birthday party in a few months, Sherry and Sue, because I’m turning 56 in September…. I enjoyed reading all the stories. I have plenty of passions and my challenge is making sure I devote some time each week to them. (I’m lucky that MT is my passion also, as that represents a good proportion of my time!)
Long ago I blogged on the conundrum of how spread out I want to be. Should I concentrate on one thing, say, quilting, and be an expert? Or should I enjoy all my passions (quilting, singing, piano, harp, cross-stitch, sewing clothes, etc.) as a “passionate amateur” and realize that I will never be the best at any of them? In other words, should I try to do one thing almost perfectly or try to do a lot of things in a mediocre way? I think I have chosen the latter. I would feel bereft if I adopted one passion at the expense of the others.
My compromise is that I will focus on one for a while, then pick up on another. I haven’t played my harp in weeks, but I’m in the middle of a baby quilt for my grandson due in July. When I finish this, I’ll clean up my sewing room from quilting stuff and sew some clothes that I desperately need (recently lost over 20 pounds – nothing fits!). Then I’ll take a spurt on playing the harp every afternoon (have to tune it every day). When I visited my family in Memphis a couple of months ago, I mailed a huge box of piano music there beforehand so I could play to my heart’s content for Mom on my sister’s baby grand – up to then, hadn’t played piano in months.
One thing I have learned, though – I’m not suited for everything. That’s important. I used to want to learn how to play a guitar. All I played was organ and piano and I wanted something portable. So I bought a guitar and took lessons (in Nashville, no less!). I just couldn’t “get it.” As much as I tried, it just wouldn’t “stick.” I was SO frustrated – I had been in music all my life, and now I couldn’t even pluck a little ol’ instrument that every Bubba in the South could play proficiently sitting on the back of his pickup truck???!! What was wrong with me? My teacher said lots of keyboardists have problems with guitar because the octave expansion is completely different. So I gave up, sold the guitar, decided a lever harp was a piano just turned sideways, and from my first pluck on the harp, I was in heaven. Deciding on a passion sometimes means being willing to try something, fail, and move on.
So, yes, I’m pursuing my passions. They’re not big dreams, but small things that bring me joy and contentment. I love being an MT, love my quiet home life, love the grandkids, and love all my creative hobbies. I just wish everyone were as happy as I am!
There ya go, Carol! Doing all of the little things that you enjoy…I love it! You know, I’ve always thought playing a harp was so cool. I’ve never tried it, though, and have only seen people actually do it on TV shows. You never know, I might one of these days. Maybe what we all need to do is just think about “the 10 things I want to accomplish (or at least try) in my lifetime” and see what we can come up with.
Carol, what a great thought here. I love the idea of being sure you are involved in some way in all of the things you’re passionate about. I just recently did some volunteer work for a conference for military spouses, because support of our military is something I’m passionate about and I really hadn’t done much with that while in Barbados. The last few months I had kind of put it off, thinking it would be wonderful to do again but also thinking I just didn’t have the time. Then I found this organization, and it seemed that voice in my head said “if not now, when?” and so I jumped in. Your post has been a reminder for me this morning that I need to do that with the other things sitting on that list so I thank you for that!
As for that birthday party, I’m going to miss it by one year this year as I won’t hit the 56 mark until next year! LOL