Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Follow Your Heart

"The best thing you can do in life is follow your heart.  Take risks.  Don't just take the safe and easy choices because you're afraid of what might happen.  Don't have any regrets and know that everything happens for a reason." - Unknown



Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I often say, "Everything happens for a reason."  The last seven and a half months have been difficult for me and a real wake up call.

When I left my job in April, I thought I would have another job in three months and that my life would continue on the path it had been on before.  The three months came and went and I still wasn't working.  I had phone interviews, lots and lots of phone interviews, but very few call backs.  I networked, I revised my resume, I applied for entry level jobs, I applied for jobs in parts of the country I had no interest in moving to and I kept telling myself that 'everything happens for a reason' and I just hadn't found the right job yet.

During the last seven and a half months I've also spent a lot of time with the dogs.  A lot of time.  I've watched Sammy struggle with aging, I've watched Ginny start to go deaf, I've watched Moira become increasingly confident and reliable in life and agility (although she can still be a bit of a nut job), I've watched Bogey grow into a boy-dog with many of his father's most beguiling traits and I've watched Georgia go through the teenage uglies and start to mature into a really lovely bitch with intelligence and personality to burn.  Part of spending all this time with the dogs has also included treating lots of minor injuries and ailments too - especially for Sam.  And this is where following my heart has come into the picture.

For years, friends who aren't 'dog people' have watched me with the dogs and asked why I don't do "something with them professionally."  I've always responded with, "I'd love to but there's no money in it."  Well, guess what?  After over seven months of not really making any money, I'm ready to do something professionally with dogs - and cats, and guinea pigs and, whatever.

I am in the process of applying to the veterinary technology program at a local community college.  My application is due at the end of January but I won't know until April if I've been accepted (they only take 40 students each year.)  School will start in August.  After two years, I will be able to sit for the state boards and, hopefully, become a licensed vet tech.  From there, I'd like to become certified in canine physical rehabilitation so I can work with dogs recovering from orthopedic surgery, or plagued by arthritis and , of course, the canine athletes I love so much.  I still need to find a job in the meantime but I can focus on finding something local and it doesn't have to be a 'career' position.

UHM (who got and accepted a job offer last week) has been incredibly supportive of this plan - even though I know it scares her a bit.  If I'm being completely honest, it scares me too but I think I have to follow my heart on this one and remember that everything does happen for a reason.

8 comments:

  1. Kudos for you Dina!! I am wishing you the VERY BEST as you take this new journey!

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  2. You know what? I'm kinda jealous. If NOVA wasn't so far away, I'd think about applying, too. GOOD FOR YOU! They'd be foolish not to accept you. Should I tell them that? :)

    Love the photo!

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  3. Elizabeth - I'll actually be going to Blue Ridge in Weyers Cave. Slightly closer.... Why don't you apply too and then we can carpool and study together?

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  4. UHM is reminded of two favorite quotes:
    1. To walk across the street is a risk.
    Mikhail Baryshnikov
    2. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.
    Alan Alda

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  5. Go, Dina, Go!! This is exactly what I would like to be doing right now, but DH just started grad school and we need my job to pay our mortgage. We hope in a few years he'll be making more and I can focus on it 100%. For me the clincher was seeing how much PT improved Bug's quality of life. I hope you are accepted and get to start down this exciting path. I will be cheering you on, and will be more than a little jealous (in a nice way, if that's possible). ((hug))

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  6. It's a splendid plan. Go, Dina -- just set your jaw and do it!

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  7. Good for you, it takes courage to make big changes like that but you will do wonderfully.

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  8. When it's all said and done, the only regrets in life are the risks you did not take. Good for you for following your heart, and best wishes in achieving your goal!

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