What You Don't Want

What you don't want. 

Sometimes when you are trying to figure out what you want or what the next step should be, asking yourself what you don't want might help you to narrow down your choices. 

When I retired almost ten years ago I had no set plans for the future. In other words I really didn't know what I wanted to do with the next chapter of my life. I remember telling those who asked that I just wanted to remain open to opportunities that might come along the way. 

As it turned out the opportunity to teach part-time for my school district presented itself, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with the kids without the full responsibility of the classroom. I still had some teaching left in me that needed to be done. 

A few years later as my father's health declined I had the opportunity to be there to help him maneuver the many challenges that would come along.  By this time I truly was ready to leave the elementary classroom for something different. 

However, once again. I found myself wondering what I wanted to do next?  I seemed to struggle with this, but had no difficulty knowing what I didn't want to do. Although, I had no reservations about generating possible income, I knew I did not want to be on someone else's clock and schedule. 

I also knew that I did not want to do something that did not require creativity. I had started my blog several years after retiring, and was enjoying the opportunity to express myself through writing. 

When I first retired I thought I had to fill up my time with lots of activity and to-do lists. However, I learned that I did not enjoy having such a full schedule. Although, I still enjoyed being part of a group I did better when we met monthly vs weekly. 

Sometimes when we are unsure as to what we want to do, we can use the tool of identifying what we know we don't want to do. In this way we may not fall prey to the concept of drift where we find ourself involved in activities that we really don't enjoy. 

Narrowing down what I don't want has allowed me to open the door to some new possibilities that I had not considered before, and I'm excited to begin pursuing them.