Do you live where you want to work or do you work where you want to live?

Many of us choose a career path (or change career paths) and go where the jobs are. Certainly in my case I ended up moving 850 miles away from all my friends and family — the most difficult transition I have ever made — because this is where the jobs were in my chosen profession. And the longer I am here, the more vested I am in one retirement plan, the more difficult it is to pull up stakes and move again. My family makes no secret of the fact that they want me to move closer to where most of them are [what we all generally refer to as "home", except that my home has been elsewhere for more than 20 years]. And I either dismiss the thought as wholly impractical until after retirement or consider dropping everything here and find a job — any job — back there. Especially when I’m having a difficult year. As this one is turning out to be. Hmmph.

And then, out of the blue, a colleague asked me, “What would you do if you were just starting out today?” And at that particular moment I did not immediately think, “I would still teach.” And that surprised me a little bit. Because even though they say we are not supposed to define who we are by what we do for a living, I always have. I am a teacher. Nothing else has been so fulfilling — or so frustrating — as teaching. I know there are other things I can do. I’m not always sure there are other things I can be. But if I were just starting my career today… I don’t think I would make the same choice. I definitely find it harder than ever to recommend teaching as a career to someone else. But if they really have the passion for it, it won’t matter much what I tell them anyway. And if they don’t have that passion, there is no way they will survive in it. [For at least the last thirty years or so, half of all the people that go into teaching don't make it past five years -- a statistic I find wholly believable and more than a little embarrassing professionally . It's not like the reasons are a mystery or unresolvable. But that's a topic for another day. Or another blog.] Anyway… I promised myself when I started on this journey that I would never be one of those teachers that is just putting in time until retirement. I will quit if I ever get to the point where I am not still learning. I’m not there — not by a long shot. I will quit if I ever get to the point where it’s just not fun any more. I’m not there… yet. It’s been not fun a lot more lately.

I think that we can become too comfortable sometimes. Discomfort encourages change. Change prevents stagnation. Even though I have remained in Central Florida, I have changed schools [or school systems] every few years or so. I’m thinking it’s time for another change. I just don’t know how drastic the change should be. The opportunities to remain in teaching [in my subject area] are not as plentiful as they used to be. So, faced with the choices of changing subject areas or leaving teaching, I have to wonder what’s keeping me here? And if I leave, do I take the relatively easy path back “home” or strike out somewhere new [as difficult as I know that can be]? If I go somewhere new, where would I go and what would I do when I get there?

Usually when I get this restless, this uneasy, an opportunity presents itself. Or maybe I just take more notice of opportunities that have always been there. Right now though, there is nothing specific. And that makes me wonder if it’s not the what I should be considering as much as the where. But I need to narrow it down from “anywhere but here”. Where should I go to decide what I want to be while I don’t grow up?

Do you live where you want to work or do you work where you want to live?

Posted by Tim