From Teacher to Energy Worker
When Life Encourages a Career Change
How to navigate a career change after 50?
I loved being a school teacher!
I loved showing my students how to interact with the community!
I loved mentoring U of U students!
I loved integrating our little Salt Lake City world into my School Teaching world!
And then one day, I knew it was going to be my last year and I gave my co-teachers and administration 9 months notice before I would retire from this world I had become accustomed to for over 34 years.
It was easy and difficult
all at the same time.
Transitions toward finding purpose in one's life goes through a manifesting process. I gave much thought of what I wanted to do next; often it came through a series of thinking:
“What have I not been able to do but want to do now?”
Well, that was kinda easy!
I want to conduct a holistic healing practice with a health advocacy emphasis.
I want to conduct Reiki sessions, teach Reiki to others, and work with people who need a healing touch.
Oh! I want to write more! I want to write children's books about adventurous kids who have special needs but are not limited by them.
Survivor Wellness offers free wellness services for Cancer Survivors, Caregivers and Loved Ones and I get to provide Reiki sessions with them 4x per month! (in a beautiful room, I might add)
The Blue Swing. I’ve written a sweet book about an adorable little girl who finds solace in a Blue Swing to help her cope with her anxiety.
In many ways, teaching special needs students has prepared me for a Reiki-type of healing work. Things I’ve learned as a Special Ed teacher over the years:
Accept every student as they are
Active listening is a gift
Eliminate jargon when talking with parents
Students want to feel loved
With very few grammatical modifications, the work I conduct with my Reiki students and clients are similar. Bottom line, people just want to be heard and loved.
As people transition from their cancer experience to a life beyond cancer, I found this sweet article about Hidden Gifts.
Sriram Yaladandi eloquently writes in The Hidden Gifts Inside Every Crisis - No one asks for a crisis
“Pain doesn’t just destroy. It reveals.
In the middle of the chaos, something strange begins to happen — if you’re willing to look beyond the noise. You start to notice what truly matters. Who shows up. What you’re still holding onto that you no longer need. And, sometimes, what you’ve outgrown without even realizing it.
The truth is, most of us don’t slow down long enough to see ourselves until life forces us to.”
I find that the act of transition from one familiar identity to another (whether it be from Patient to Survivor or from one career to another) there is a temporary sense of loss quickly followed by a new emerging self.
Transitioning from a traditional career to a holistic practice wasn’t actually as challenging as one may originally think.
I had training to plan and prepare for. I had to switch a few mental gears with reasonable expectations on recruitment of clients, etc. I also had to get organized with a good business mentor, IT person and an editor who helps me keep my grammatical tenses consistent with one another.
And then comes the slow and steady grind of networking and making authentic genuine connections with people and organizations.
One friend told me that the skills that automatically transfer when you least expect them will be the ones that surprise you the most. I am in the midst of learning this now.
I’m excited for our future together.
(and… in these current times, that is saying a lot)
What transitions are you needing to further your purpose?
