That is the question. At least it is for me. As we all know, the Corona Virus altered our lives in ways we probably would not have imagined had it not happened. Shut downs, closed schools, closed businesses, quarantines, masks, etc. Not to mention the impact it had on our time. Me personally, I found that I had more time to think and reflect as I was on administrative leave for some days during March, April and May. During my time of reflection I thought about the current state of my professional life and how it may have been altered (for better or for worse…) had I made different choices over the course of time. At different stages of life I had thoughts of pursuing specific career paths, but admittedly became distracted by comfort, complacency and some early financial success. As I thought, I asked myself the question: do I have regrets? Absolutely! Some may say that having regret is looking into the past. And you are right. I like to use my past as a reference to make wiser choices in my future. Just the way I think, that’s all. You do what works for you. Hopefully you don’t have any regrets in your professional life. That is a blessing.
There are three instances where I wonder how my life would be different if I’d made a different choice. One, I wish I had followed my ultimate dream to become a fighter pilot. I love military fighter jets. My real, real dream was to be an Air Force F15 pilot. I had a good start too. Was supposed to spend a couple of summers in the Naval Academy JETS program while in Junior High School. But girls came calling……..Two, I often envisioned myself as a college professor. I’ve always enjoyed engaging in conversation and sharing information with people. I’m a decent verbal and written communicator and think I could connect with students to inspire them. But I let music (my mistress) get in the way. Three, I love science/technology and have always been intrigued by computers. I am so fascinated by the history of computers that I could read the same information over and over and not get bored. There are times when I read hour upon hour day after day learning about hardware and networking. I finally got past my fear and lack of on hand experience and decided to really study hardware, networking and cloud computing. Thanks to my son Rashon for the inspiration! No longer letting missed time get in the way!
So yeah. I have a regret or two. Or three (don’t judge………) but I am gonna use them as motivation as I move toward the next level in my professional life. U.S. Air Force F22 here I come…………By the way, anybody know the maximum age limit for fighter pilots?
The Real Life Corner 