The Story Of My Dream - Part Five
February 1, 2008 | In About |
Table of contents for Life Story
- The Story Of My Dream - Part One
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Two
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Three
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Four
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Five
Marriage
New Year’s Eve/Day, just after midnight, 2005, John asked me to marry him. I of course said yes!
I put aside my CPCU studies to plan our wedding on September 22, 2006. After the wedding, I took another CPCU course and passed it. Now I’m up to five of the eight required to complete the designation.
After we were married, I started Solution Training, which I wrote about previously. Through this experience I have been able to process a lot of the pain from my past and accept my mistakes. It was also through this experience that I realized my dream of being an activist - that is teaching about conservation - could no longer be pushed aside. It needs to be fulfilled.
In terms of insurance, who’s to say if I will complete the CPCU? I may, and I may not. However, I do know that the pursuit of money will never make me happy and there are much more important things in life than having as many letters as possible after my name.
Reflecting On My Life
As I look back over my life and my dreams of teaching conservation, I can see five distinct stages. The first was prior to college, where I tried out a lot of different dreams about the future. There were lots of possibilities and all of them seemed achievable. I entered the next stage with dreams of being a sail trainer and probably also a Marine Biologist.
The second stage of my dreams was college. This was a time of huge transition for me. I had a lot of setbacks, including the end of the sail trainer path. I tried for being a Marine Biologist, but this too was a dream that I pushed aside. I did some work in the real world, rather than the academic world, and realized the academic world was a form of fantasy world by itself. I pushed through my bad grades and my heartbreaks and graduated in 1999.
The third stage was the first few years after college until I got married. This was the stage when I still wanted to do something with biology and conservation, but I feared for the future and money became a driving force in my life. The end of this stage was my marriage to John and the start of my Solution Training.
The fourth stage covers the first several months of Solution Training, and a growing realization that I was avoiding a lot of pain from my past. I still pursued the CPCU, but I also began to investigate ways to merge my environmental values with insurance and investigated specializing in environmental insurance.
The Fifth Stage Of My Dream - The Present
Then, came the fateful night I realized I was checking off society’s to do list instead of mine; however, it took another couple of weeks before the extent of that realization sunk in. For several weeks, I felt like I was standing at a fork in the road and I struggled choose whether to pursue my dreams or continue my career in insurance. In the end, I made the decision to go for my dreams, even if it means the end of my insurance career. It was September 2007, the month I started this blog.
October 2007 at a local park
Money is still a huge concern for me and this was not an easy choice. Since I made the decision, I’ve looked back numerous times. What I’ve come to accept is that no matter what I do to earn money for bills, I will not give up my dream again. Insurance is a great field and I do enjoy the challenges in piecing together an appropriate program for a client’s business. However, I will no longer push my dreams aside as I continue to work in this field.
As I mentioned before, I hope to one day not need to work in insurance and instead volunteer full time. However, that day isn’t soon and I’ve still got a lot of knowledge and skill that I can use. I have been in insurance for seven years now and learned a lot. No matter what the future holds, it will be an adventure.
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Congratulations on having started on the path.
I think for many of us on such a path money is a concern.
But when you know there is more it is very hard to go back.
Looking forward to following you on your path.
Thank you! Money is a huge concern for me, as I stated. In fact, I would say that money is my biggest stumbling block. It will continue to be a challenge for me, I know. I’ll be doing my best to work through it, but I wonder: will I ever feel totally financially secure? Only time will tell, I suppose.
Hi Cathy! I found your blog looking for info on the Solution before I take the plunge, and I’m glad I found you! I started poking around and I found this post. I really, really encourage you to check out the book Your Money or Your Life. I think you would agree with so much of it, and find it really helpfult towards fulfilling your truest dreams. Love,Lindsey