The Job Expo and Career Fair

Today I drove by a sign that said “Job Expo and Career Fair”, since most of what I do involves networking with people, I thought that I would stop in.  When I did, I was shocked at the  “energy” in the room or should I say lack there of.

Everywhere I looked, there were vendors looking down at their phones.  I walked a whole isle before one person looked up and even offered a smile. The rest of the isles weren’t much better.  It was confusing!  I mean these people actually paid money to be in that room for the sole purpose of meeting and connecting with other people.  Yet, for many of them, it looked they were serving time in prison, just counting down the minutes until they were FREE!

When I left the Expo I felt grateful for my situation but mostly I felt sad.  I felt sad for so many of the people in that room today because it was obvious that they did not like their jobs and if they did, they certainly did NOT want to be there.

If I had a wish, it would have been that each person in the room search for and find their purpose in life.  Not just a job or a career, but an actual deep burning desire, doing exactly what they wanted to be doing.

Last week I traveled to Canada.  During my travels I made it a point to meet at least 10 strangers.  I met 11.  There was a Radiologist that rarely got to see the sunlight and struggled to stay awake past 3:00 in the afternoon, a Packer Fan that loved playing football and 2 divorced people on a date.  The couple on the date were 69 years old and full of life.  You could actually see the happiness in their eyes.  In talking to them, I learned that they found each other after spending many years in a miserable marriage.  Now, they are in love with each other, and planning a future.  I met 2 dog lovers and an engineer that dreams of sailing around the world.  Then there was an IT project manager that dreams of being a librarian and the waitress who was the mother of a newborn that dreamed of being able to stay home with her child.  I also met a store manager that wished he didn’t have to work so many hours and an immigrant Real Estate Broker that lost his business in the 2008/09 housing crash now turned historian.  Most of these people had a dream, the sad part was that their dream wasn’t their reality.  IS YOURS?

Personally, I think that I needed to have this experience today.  I needed to see exactly what it was that I would not be willing to accept in my life anymore.  Years ago I made the choice to choose happiness over money.  For some reason, since then, I have been telling myself that I have to make a choice.  Happiness, love and passion OR money, stress and loneliness.  The reality is, it doesn’t have to be one or the other, I can and will have it all.  I hope that you make the choice and take the necessary actions to have it all too.

Have a great day!

Kevin