Part IIIV: The Map Ends Here. The Journey Continues.
Our dog is happily chewing on a dental stick. With enviable dedication. Perhaps he’s hungry. Or perhaps he’s simply passing the time until our next walk.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting at the dining table. In front of me lies a questionnaire. “Standortbestimmung” – which means something like “Current Position Assessment,” it says at the top. I can’t help smiling. At the moment, I know my current position rather precisely. Out of unemployment benefits. Thank you very much. I didn’t really need a questionnaire to tell me that.
What I’d find far more useful is an options assessment. Or perhaps a future assessment. Or—while we’re at it—a possibilities assessment. I’d fill that one in immediately.
For months now, I’ve been asking myself what comes next professionally. Of course, I’m applying for jobs. I search for suitable vacancies. I send applications. And I try to stay open.
More open, perhaps, than I would have been a few years ago. I’ve applied for positions that would have taken me back many years in my career. Not because I wanted to go backwards. But because I wanted to keep moving forward. Without success.
Several years ago, I decided to invest heavily in further education. One qualification. Then another. Eventually, a master’s degree. Always hoping that one more step might open the door to a new path. My part-time self-employment grew out of that hope as well. It isn’t sustaining itself yet. Perhaps one day it will. Perhaps it won’t.
And that is where the real challenge lies. Not in the change itself. But in the uncertainty that comes with it. Our brains often cope surprisingly well with demanding challenges. What they struggle with far more is uncertainty. Not knowing what comes next can drain more energy than the journey itself.
Perhaps that’s why we need more than direction. More than structure. We also need a sense of where the next step might lead. Perspectives give us hope. Not because they guarantee that everything will turn out well. But because they allow us to keep moving.
Sometimes I feel as though I’m standing at a crossroads. Several paths stretch out before me. Which one leads in the “right” direction? I honestly don’t know. Perhaps there are possibilities I simply can’t see yet. A career change. A completely new role. A project that slowly finds its wings. Or something entirely different. Who knows?
Our dog would probably have little trouble with that uncertainty. On our walks, he eagerly heads towards every bend in the path. He doesn’t stop simply because he can’t see what’s waiting around the corner. Perhaps another dog. Perhaps a squirrel. Perhaps nothing at all. He simply keeps going. Confident. Open to whatever may come.
I like that attitude. Not because I believe we humans should copy it. But because it sometimes reminds me how natural curiosity can be. Perhaps we don’t always need to know the whole journey. Perhaps it’s enough to take the next step. The next phone call. The next application. The next conversation. The next idea.
I know where I am. I don’t yet know the next stretch of the road. And perhaps I don’t need to know it today.