What the Heck … I’ll Be a Carrot Farmer: Finding a Career Path
in a Sea of Choices
by
Mitra Milani Engan
An
overflow audience at this session, largely young adults and youth, seemed
commonly tuned to a burning question: What am I going to do with my
life? “People say ‘listen to your heart,’ but I’m
not really hearing anything,” a participant said. A wag at the
fringe riposted under her breath, “Bloop-bloop … bloop-bloop …”
Of course Engan—a sales and marketing executive for Utne Reader—was
not going to give each person a definitive answer. Instead, her observations
centered on trust in God, service and scholarship.
Concerning trust in God, she advised lightening up and not letting
tactics dominate one’s choices: “Bahá’u’lláh doesn’t
say ‘nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved
ones unless I choose the wrong major,’ or ‘unless I don’t
position myself in the right geographical area for my career path.’”
Self-reflection and examination are important ways of finding one’s
best way to serve humanity through our life’s work, she said.
Methods can be as mystical as prayer, meditation, “visioning”
your ideal and analyzing your dreams—or as specific as writing
down lists of your skills and ideas, prioritizing your needs and goals,
and keeping a journal (a very concrete method of bringing oneself to
account each day).
There’s also research on the Web, in the want ads, in the library—even
boldly setting up interviews with people who have jobs you think are
interesting. And the next time you face confusion on your life’s
goals? Repeat the process …
—James Humphrey, reporter
