11 June 2023
Magical mountains on a misty morning
I was out walking in the mountains this morning. It was a cloudy day with rain and mist covering most of the mountain. As I gazed at the beauty of such a pretty sight, albeit very cold, I reflected on the conversation I had the day before with my sister Salome. She was deep in thought this weekend, struggling with the thought of making a career change.
The misty mountains made me think about my sister.
It felt like her glory is hidden now from the world to see.
Her majesty and grandness, just like these giant mountains I walk amidst this morning, is hidden behind the mist. So many people remain in careers that once served them but now just blocks out their glory within.
I listened attentively to the unspoken emotions lingering in the words of my sister as she shared with me her challenges faced with her current job on her physical well being.
She wants a change but lost on the path to follow to achieve this.
My advice to my sister flowed straight from my heart to hers by sharing my wisdom gained from having encountered a similar challenge about a decade ago.
“Start with what you know and let what you know grow.” Dr John Demartini.
The question I asked my sister was: What is it you have that you can put together as a product or service, package it and start serving people with now for which they would be happy to pay you for it in fair exchange?
I asked her to make a list of all the things she loves to do. And then to take a page, draw 4 quadrants on it and fill into each quadrant her qualifications, her experience, her achievements, her testimonials. This 1 page is to cover all 7 areas (family, social, vocation, spirituality, financial, mental, physical) of life to ensure she does not overlook anything.
I told her to look at all of the information she has written down and ask what is it saying her life demonstrates. What is it saying she loves to do? What is it on the page that when she sees it, energises her? Where is she excelling?
By looking at what her life demonstrates, she will get closer to arriving at her career choice.
The world is waiting for her to value her. If she did not value herself, why should anyone value her? When she values herself, the world automatically values her. She will get back what she puts out.
From conversations with Salome, she is always energized to tutor Afrikaans. She is always
bringing into conversations stories about her students that are heartwarming for me to hear
when we chat. I explained to her that if teaching is what she loves, that is great.
Our country needs teachers.
So, I advised her to build on it and expand it to new avenues. I asked: What is it you know and feel you are an authority on that you can teach?
Well, my sister suddenly started to engage more in the conversation, was thinking about a
few ideas she could explore and was a lot more empowered to move forward than when we
first started to chat. I trust she will take action. That is the only thing that differentiates the
haves from the have nots.
She thanked me for the encouragement and this fulfilled me. We said goodnight and ended
our call.
If you are at a crossroad in your career, no matter who you are, you have value within you.
Your value is powerful and once tapped into, you can turn it into your vocation where you do
what you love and love what you do.
Lots of love,
Rajes
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