Do your strengths enable you to fulfill your purpose?
Where do I fit in
From as far back as I can remember I have always been trying to figure out where I fit in. Fit in where you might be thinking. You know, fit in with the crowd, accepted for whom you are and what you are good at.
Today, more baby boomer trends show our fellow boomers are asking themselves the same question.
It would be until years later that I would discover it is alright to be unique, different and not like everyone else. I would discover what my purpose in life really is, what I am good at and how I would deliver my strengths to the marketplace.
It all started as I drifted off to sleep last night…
Being different is not popular
In kindergarten little girls huddled together admiring the newest little gumball machine ring another student received that week. Little boys were busy catching bugs, playing tag and chasing girls hoping to escape their reach. Although I loved jewelry way back then I also loved playing tag, horsy and climbing things.
Moving through the elementary years of school was not easy for me. The oldest of five children I was responsible and hardworking; yet, my classmates were off having fun, roller skating, going to pool parties and the like. Looking back on that time of my life I was resentful and angry, I wanted what they had. It was not fair that I had to work while they played.
We were all conscious of our clothes, hand-me-downs were commonplace. Some of my friends sported frilly anklets, the newest designer fashions and shoes. These shiny objects were always a desire for my sisters and me.
We learned to play with each other especially over the summer months; neighbors and friends lived too far from our home for frequent visits. Mom and dad worked and there was little time for such nonsense as going over to a friend’s house to play let alone asking them to drive us there.
The five of us, my brother and sisters and me were considered different. We did not come from money, popular families or high ranking positions within the work force. No, we were just the average large family who worked hard and had little time for fun.
Elementary to higher education lessons
When I entered high school a whole new world opened up for me. Now the pool of fish was bigger, a more diverse population to contend with. Now it became crystal clear that more families fit our description than that of my previous friends. It became very clear that a new start was in order and I could carve out my place in this new world.
I wonder how many baby boomers went through this same journey with the same struggles and feelings.
Along with a new start, new friends and new experiences comes new responsibility. Gone were the days of after school playtime. Homework replaced any minutes I thought to be my own. Not sure how I would go about making new friends with no time, I found myself siding up to anyone headed in the same direction I walked on the way to my next class.
In our high school there were five categories of cliques, you know sectors of kids who thought they belonged to little societies. Each thought their group was better than the other, sound familiar? There were the cowboys, the jocks, the band kids, the stoners and the geeks. Try as I might, I did not fit into any of the groups. What did I do?
Join us next time as the story unfolds and my purpose becomes clearer.
Help us spread the story, click the "Like" button at the top of the page, be sure to "re-tweet", too. These baby boomer trends and the questions we ask ourselves need to get out to our fellow aging boomers. Do you know any? Do us a favor and share with one or two, you are the best!
Helping Turn Back the Clock,
Carla
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Carla Gardiner is an auto transport broker, dispatcher, health coach and a forever young, fiery grandma. Her passion and purpose lies with the baby boomer trends and the people she works with daily; aging baby boomers, dispatchers, brokers and truck drivers, too. Her frustration within the industry has birthed a new focus of her company; one to properly train, encourage and mentor others in regaining their health while building a retirement part-time business, too. What did you think?
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