What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Do you remember being asked this question when you were young? Our answers were fun, and generally reflected our narrow view of the world.
I want to be a dancer, football player, astronaut, or maybe the president.
All great answers for that time in our life.
Then in high school we were asked the question again. But somehow, it sounded different. Our answers really were reflecting a much different time in our life.
“What do you need to do for the next 50 years of your life to earn a living and take care of your family.
The question asked was the same, but it sounded different and we knew it needed a different answer.
We have not been asked that question for a while. But now is a perfect time to answer it again.
What do you want to be when you grow up. Think about it for a minute. Our answers can now reflect the original question- What do you “want” to be.
I want to golf, play pickleball, read or travel. All wonderful things to do. But the question was. What do you want “to be”.
This is a much bigger question.
Our answer can now reflect a much broader view of the world. One that does not need to be influenced by matters of financial necessity. And, this is big, it can for the first time really focus on the “want’ in the question.
What is going to excite me to wake up in the morning. What is going to lead to a rich and fulfilling time in my life. What do I want to be…
This is much more nuanced than how we spend three hours on Tuesday afternoon. This is our identity. How people think about us, and how we think about ourselves. And hopefully our answer reflects our current purpose in life.
Oh, and the other part to the question-”when you grow up”. Let’s look at the fun we can have with this. Yes, let’s grow up again.
We may not be an astronaut or a football player, but we could still be a dancer. This growing up thing. It does not end, we have the chance to make the changes that we want along the way.
And be who we want to be.
Enjoy your day,
Just a little extra-
So what do I want to be when I grow up? I will tell you:
I want to be a good husband and father. Sure my role has changed, but this will always be an important part of my life.
I want to be healthy. I don’t just want to say it, I need to live it.
I want to be a good friend. This can become more difficult as we get older, but even more important.
I want to have a good understanding of my spiritual faith. This has been a moving target in my life, but I seem to be much more at peace with how I believe.
I want to be curious. There is so much of the world that I don’t know. I want to know more.
I want to be happy. I think this will happen if I can “be” all of the above.
I may never grow up.
But for the first time in my life I know what I want to be.
References
Cole, Garry. February 2024. Are We Old Yet? (Yes, I used my book as a reference)