Oh That’s Where I Left It…

In 1992 I graduated with a Masters degree in counseling.  I had a piece of paper and a passion to help people.  That personal mission carried me through 12 years of counseling on the front lines of HIV (back when all we had was AZT), addictions and childhood trauma.  I started really young, before I had any life experience to back up all that book learning and it lead to a fairly intense burn out for me.

In 2004 I left the field of mental health and took a job doing anything else.  I’ve been doing that job in corporate administration for nearly 8 years now.  It was supposed to be a way station until I found my next life passion, not a place to drop anchor.

Eight years later, you could not have told me I would be where I am now.  It has been a strange and painful journey for sure.

Near 6 years ago I would not have believed I would be moving back to Texas with my tail between my legs, bruised and depressed from living with a man deep in his addictions.

Five months ago I would not have predicted that a shy, introverted, chubby white guy with no rhythm would be nervously stepping into an aerobic dance class

Five months later and thirty pounds released unto the universe while shakin’ and booty poppin’ to Latin, Hip Hop, and popular dance music, I could not have predicted that I would be sweating and laughing and gasping for breath three times a week and loving it.

Even though I was burned out on counseling, I’ve never felt any sense of fulfillment unless I was helping people.  Working a job that makes a buck does pay the bills but it does not fill up my soul.

So who could have predicted that in the next couple months I will be getting my Zumba instructor license?  I couldn’t have, but I am.

Apparently my next life passion was there all along, right where I left it, I just had to shake the dust off.