Have you ever met a person who cannot seem to find their niche in life? I am talking about the kind of person that is doing a different job every time you happen to talk to them. One of the therapist’s that I work with is married to a woman that fits into this category. I worked with him for four years. Through the course of that time we became friends. We would socialize with our spouses a few times a year. We I moved on to a different job we still tried to stay in touch.

When I had first met his wife she was a sales representative for a granite company. She was selling granite counter tops. She seemed to enjoy this a great deal and was filled with information about the different kinds and qualities of granite. About nine months later we got together for dinner and she was telling us that they would not be able to stay our late because she was taking her real estate exam the next day. She had been working with so many contractors and real estate agents in selling the counter tops that she decided that she would like to do this for a living because the commission was much greater on property than it was on the granite sales. Several months past and we again got together for dinner. I asked her how she did on her real estate exam. She said that she had not passed it, but was still very interested in getting into real estate; however she had just started taking classes to become a beautician. I was very surprised to hear this because being a beautician seemed like a huge departure from selling granite or real estate. She said that she always had an interest in hair styles as well as manicures and make-up application. She thought it would be fun to work in this field; however she was still going to take her real estate exam again. She said that you can talk about such a wide variety of topics when you are cutting someone’s hair or doing their nails so the thought she might be able to sale her salon customer’s real estate also. She said that most people have a great trust in their barbers. I had to laugh at her creative ideas. She by this time was in her late forties and was still coming up with the perfect career.

Time seemed to get away from us for a year and a half. We had not seen or talked to them. We called and made arrangements to have dinner. When I asked her what she was doing she told me that she was selling awnings for commercial buildings. She never took her real estate exam again. She had skin reactions to the chemicals used in beauty school so she did not complete that either. She is now talking about going to school for a bachelor’s degree; however she does not know what she would want to study.