Outside my bubble

As I sit here on my plane headed back to Alabama, I'm starring out the window at a world much larger than the protective bubble of the Shoals area I have always lived in. I'm leaving what could have been the most educational and eye-opening vacations I have ever been on.
This is the first vacation that has not been to a beach type location. I actually took time to wonder around Washington DC and marvel at the history of our nation. I have seen all of these monuments online, tv and in history classes.. But I never had the appreciation for the beauty and scale until now. Going to the most powerful city in the world leaves me wanting more. I walked the steps where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech. I saw the Capital and the White House and caught myself wondering who was in office and what legislation was being discussed. I toured the museums that the Smithsonian so carefully crafted to educate us about our past. I feel a little smarter heading home.
Also on this trip I spent a lot of time observing people from different backgrounds. It was easy to spot the tourist like myself, we had on something other than black or grey. The city seems to be a mix of young optimistic people ready to take command of their destiny.
Of all the the adventures this week, some rank near the top.. Truckeroo was great. 25 food trucks gathered at the Nationals stadium along with bands and and pretty much had a block party with good ranging from lobster rolls, mac n cheese, lamb gyros to cupcakes. Also up there was taking moonshine shots in a bar in DC with good fiends. I promise I walked more in the past 4 days than I have in a year.
To be honest, I'm not sure what is in my future, but I would love the opportunity to move to a great city like DC. I do however know that life is too short to not like what you do. So don't be surprised if I'm up and gone soon from the Shoals.
I can not close this out without saying a huge thank you to Brian and Amy. Without you this trip would not have been possible. The best tour guides in town and for sure the most hospitable. So Thanks again. My faith in the US has been renewed and I hope not to take for granted this great nation we live in.

Do Your Dots Connect?

"You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle." - Steve Jobs

This is an excert from a commencment speech delived by Steve Jobs to Stanford University. These lines made me question my life in its entirety. Am I doing what I love? Am I passionate about what I do? Did I settle? Unfortunely, I think that the answers are not answers that I want to hear. After 29 years I am still searching for that one career path that will drive me to be great.

I feel as if I have taken the easy route. Now, let me explain that. Nothing about my job is easy. I may work 80 hours a week spread out between nights, evenings and weekends. I just feel that taking a job just because the pay is good and not taking a risk to see what else is out there is the easy way. Sometimes I think that I am just floating by wasting the best years of my life just beacuse I am affraid of what will happen if I let go and take a chance. For those of you lucky enough to have found that one passion..... I envy you. Growing up I always wanted to teach. I felt that if I could make a change in someones life, that would mean that I was successful. Right now the only change I make in someones life is the beer can they drink from.

I guess what I am rambling about is that I am still looking for my way to do great work. The drive to not settle is still there.... just the dots are not connecting. Maybe in the next few months or years I can look back and see that the dots did connect in a round about way.