Friday, January 28, 2011

To Be or Not to Be?

When I was little, I wanted to be a nurse.  My grandmother and my mom were nurses and I desired to help others.  I was fascinated by stories my mom would tell about her patients and the experiences she had working at the hospital.  As I grew older (highschool), I became interested in pshychology.  I liked our social worker at school, and so I decided I wanted to be a social worker.  Then when it came time for college, I selected elementary education as my major.  I don't think I ever really wanted to be an elementary teacher, but I needed to select an area of study and so many people were signing up for it, that I just checked the box and viola!  I was an education major.  I really enjoyed the education classes I was taking.  Being a liberal arts school, I was required to take a religion class.  It was a challenging class and raised many questions for me.  I decided to take another religion course and loved it.  During my sophomore year, the chair of the Religious Studies department contacted me.  She noticed I was taking quite a few religion courses.  After my conversation with her, I decided to change my major to Religious Studies.  I wanted to be a religion teacher.  I graduated with a BA in Religious Studies and began a career in Parish Ministry - not quite what I had in mind, but the door was opened to me and I walked through it.  It has been apart of life for 15 years.

With all of that being said, I am going to share a dream of mine that I have never shared with anyone before.  For most of my life, I have pictured myself being a motivational speaker.  I know it sounds crazy, even more so now that I've put that thought out there, but it is true.  Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother's house.  She enjoyed watching Public Television which aired one of her favorite authors; Dr. Leo Buscalgia.  He was a professor who taught classes on love.  She would have me sit with her and watch Dr. Buscualgia lecture to crowds of people, all listening intently.  Even at my young age, I was impressed by his passion.  I thought it would be invigorating to have the ability to stand before a group of people and speak so eloquently. 

A few nights ago, I spoke at my church about the Saints and The Beatitudes.    I was quite nervous as the time drew nearer, but once I began, I felt very comfortable speaking in front of people.  I am very passionate about my faith, and tried to incorporate life experiences into what I was saying.  My talk went pretty well, and as I reflected on my experience that night, I was reminded of my "dream" and thankful that I had the opportunity to share my passion with others.  Although my dream is far-fetched, it is fun to just dip my toes into the river of possibilities as they present themselves.  As for now, I am called to be a wife and mother.  I can motivate my kids, can't I?

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