When I told people in my life that I was going to leave my old career as a lawyer and set off on my current path, some of them were pretty distressed.  I predicted that this would happen.  But I didn’t quite predict the kind of concerns they’d raise.  I thought people would argue that I was giving up a large income stream, that I was really good at my old job and had a bright future, that some aspects of being a lawyer can be fun, and so forth.  Instead, people’s concerns centered on my age (I’m 31 as of the date of this article) and the shortness of life.  “You’re too old to change careers,” one person said.  “Life is too short to waste chasing something unrealistic,” another said.

If you’re thinking about making a career transition and pursuing something more aligned with your calling, you’ve probably either heard this spiel from others or given it to yourself.  The images of old age and mortality these concerns evoke can be frightening.  At first, when people told me I was too old to make a change, images would form in my mind of me forty years from now, elderly, living in an alley, without a home, wife, children or penny to my name, all because I’d set unrealistic career goals and didn’t know a good job when I had one.  And I’d spent so many years striving for the credentials and professional goodwill I needed to succeed in my old job.  Wasn’t it too late now to do it all again?

But as I had these thoughts and experienced the despair that accompanied them, I recalled how I’d felt sitting in my old office.  As I would plow through a project in the wee hours of the morning, fueled only by caffeine and intense self-criticism, I distinctly remember two thoughts repeatedly crossing my mind.  The first one was “I’m getting too old for this.”  And the second was “life is too short to be doing this.”  For a few years, I was able to push those thoughts aside—and I had to, if I wanted to soldier on and work at the pace expected of me.  But eventually, they became so constant and gnawing that I could no longer ignore them.

That’s funny, I thought.  The fears I’m having about changing careers right now are basically the same fears I had about staying in my old career.

This brought me to an interesting realization.  The facts that life is short, and that I’m gradually growing older, don’t tell me anything about what I should do with my life.  In other words, you can use those facts to justify any career decision.  You can tell yourself “life is too short, and I’m getting older, so I’d better stay in my current job to make sure I’m secure in my impending old age.”  Or, you can tell yourself “life is too short, and I’m getting older, so I’d better pursue my passion and stop doing something that no longer fulfills me before I run out of time.”  There’s no reason why the mere fact that, as a human being, I am mortal should influence my career choices.

When I stopped letting my mortality scare me away from changing careers, I had yet another revelation.  When I started doing a job that was more pleasurable and fulfilling, I noticed that thoughts about my age and the shortness of life stopped creeping into my awareness.  As I became more aligned with what I felt was my purpose in life, I became less distracted by thoughts about my mortality.  It seemed that my supposed concerns about mortality were nothing more than disguised dissatisfaction with what I was doing.  It was my desire to leave my old career that was fueling those feelings, not some sort of deep existential angst.

Now that I’m in a field that’s fulfilling to me, my fear that my life will “pass me by” has dissipated as well.  My life isn’t “passing me by”—I’m living it to the fullest—and thus this fear simply doesn’t exist anymore.

If you’re thinking about making a transition in life, whether in the area of your career, your relationships, or anywhere else, you may be plagued by concerns that life is too short, and that you’re too old, to seek out new opportunities.  If you have these worries, I suggest that you take a moment to consider whether they also come up in your current situation.  Are your fears regarding your mortality arising in your job or relationship right now?  If so, doesn’t that suggest that anxiety about mortality is no reason to shy away from making the transition you want?

Also, consider the possibility that you can find a career, a relationship, a living space, and so on that are so satisfying that you won’t even think about mortality while you’re in them.  I didn’t believe this was possible until I stopped listening to my fears and pursued the careers, relationships and other activities I really wanted.  But it is possible, if you can recognize your fear of mortality for what it really is—dissatisfaction with your current situation—and pursue your true calling.

Related posts:

1. Do You Need To “Justify” Your Choices In Life?
2. Are You Really “Trapped”? (Part One)
3. Would You “Survive” A Career Change?
4. Is This All There Is?
5. Releasing Our Need To Be “Taken Seriously”