The Future is Wide Open

I'm trying to embrace the Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up question.  I'm trying to embrace this new job situation in a positive light.  The last time I was unemployed was brutal; it was unexpected and on the heels of Kevin's diagnosis and our new house.  This time things are a little more mellow.

When I was child I wanted to be a teacher or a librarian.  I've done the teacher thing so I can check that off of my list. Librarian takes a degree and seems to be a job that doesn't become available very often. 

Then I was thinking about what else would be a job that could encompass these two interests.  Retail is not a choice for me as it's shift work, requires a lot of time on your feet, and it's retail.  (people, ugh)  Also, bookstores are a dying breed anymore.

Early childhood is no longer a choice as the pay is abysmal, finishing my degree in this field doesn't make sense financially and the physical demand too high.  Also, kind of over it as it is an extremely taxing profession.  Maybe I can just volunteer to rock babies or something instead.

I have registered at all the local school districts so I'm hoping maybe something will come up in that field.  It's kind of good timing as the school year starts next month. 

I could become a para-educator, which is fancy term for teachers aide but it requires testing.  You can tell me to stop being a baby about the test but MATH.  When I took the pre-test years ago, the computer actually Kicked Me Off because of my horrible performance on the math section. The remedy for this is a Math for Boneheads class and frankly, I'd rather have dental surgery.  So, this is going to require some thought and fortitude. 

But then, I'm really good at my job.  It seems silly to not stick with something that I'm really good at. But social services jobs are difficult to get into and now the job market is flooded with my former co-workers.

I was also thinking about just registering as a temp.  Lots of flexibility, change, and can be lucrative if you prove yourself valuable.  But I think I need consistency.

As you can see, I'm trying to keep an open mind and be adventuresome about this new situation.

So, pretend that suddenly your future is wide open.  What would you do?