Beating the Fear of the Unknown

Hi! It's been a while. Writing in my journal has kept me away from this online pot of emotions. This post didn't have enough feels to deserve being written down in that little notebook and I think this would be helpful to people who might stumble upon this hole-in-the-wall of a blog of mine.

The morning was a tranquil one. The stress of enrollment period has come to pass. A cup of steaming coffee, two pan de sal stuffed with corned beef, and my "life planner kit" - composed of a piece of paper, ruler, and a multicolor pen - await me.

Ever since I have embraced nursing in my life, career options opened left and right: nursing informatics, nursing administration, nursing research, and many more. After much meditation (and a lot more of searching), I have narrowed my options down to these four: research track, clinical nursing, community health nursing, and finally, continuing studies.

Clinical nursing had my heart first, being the wards as the fertile soil where my love for nursing first grew. And grew to be mighty, it did. 

Community nursing is my paramour, taking hold of my heart and wrapping its arms around it. I just have to give in to that. 

Research track is a dark horse in the rising. I met this after graduation and it took me places. Literally: from GCP seminars to the shanties around Laguna Lake to multi-national investigators' meeting. It appealed to my wanderlust and won.

Continuing studies is my safety net if I decide to pursue the academe. Suddenly, I recognized how I can pursue this to complement my other options.

With these four lovers competing for my (career's) heart, I have to sit down to hold my woozy and confused mind. Being the OC that I am who fears the unknown, making a career timeline hits these two (sometimes bothersome) birds at the same time. And that tranquil morning gave me the time to think about my future.

Four hours of organizing my life into lines for "Work", "Continuing Studies" and "Life"for the next seven years, I incurred a headache. I came up with this.

Life TAP

Each line representing a specific path in a career (i.e. research track, clinical nursing, and community nursing under 'Work') divided into time periods. As I plan on what to do with my life further into the future, things get blurrier and vaguer and all I had come up with are goals that I have to reach. 

Goals that I should reach if I plan to practice in the community, write my dissertation, and join ultramarathons and duathlons by age 30. Too ideal (bordering impossible)? Nah. Just stick to the plan, Paulo.