when I grow up...

My eleven year brother wants to be a pilot when he grows up.  He's definitely smart enough.  His personality on the other hand will make it difficult - patience is not his virtue and while a creative problem solver he is pretty impulsive.  Not sure that that will lend itself the traits required to be a pilot.  Of course, no one has told him this - why crush his dreams?

What happens when we attain careers that don't mesh with our personalities?  When I was young I wanted to be an actress.  A teacher is not far off.  I often find myself standing on lab benches, extolling the virtues of the periodic table, or other songs and dances; anything to keep my students interested.  And, my classes are well attended, my failure rates are low, but it can't last. 

It took me a full week to de-stress down here in sunny California.  I recall the exact moment - the warm wind blowing as I was descending on my bike, the sweet smell of the orchards mixed with cedar, my  husband and I out for a nice 3 hour ride.  I finally felt like I was on holiday, that night I slept a solid 11 hours because my body finally realized that I didn't need to stress out over performing in front of a bunch of kids.  I also finally realized how much stress that has caused.

I lead a fantastic life.  But, it is amazing the things that you don't truly realize how much they stress you out and the implications to your health.  Trying to figure out how to keep the high stress out of my life when I return home - but I'm not going to stress about it.