Let’s Chat: Time for a change

By Linda Tooth on January 10, 2024.

I recently had a conversation with someone who was at a point in their life where they felt deflated and broken with their career and were in desperate need of a change.

Their health was starting to show signs of deterioration from the toxic environment they had been working in for approximately 10 years. I was shocked it had come to that point for them.

I shared with them a recent article I had seen regarding how many jobs Canadians can expect to have in their lifetime. According to the online site Workopolis, if those who are either Gen X (born in 1965 to 1980) or Gen Y, also known as Millennials (born in 1981 to 1994) continue at the pace they are at, 15 is the average number of jobs they will have in their lifetime.

Can you imagine? Gone are the days when our parents and grandparents would work one or two jobs in their lifetime.

With this person in my mind, it was a sign when I saw the National Geographic magazine 100 Places That Will Change Your Life edition at a local grocery store. It was important to purchase it even though the price was unbelievable, and share with them options they could visit to help them get back what was taken from them.

That is their spirit and soul.

Climb to the monasteries of Meteora in Greece is an option for the spirit. These Eastern Orthodox monasteries rise 1,200 feet above the Peneas Valley and were constructed by hermit monks.

Constructed between the 14th and 16th centuries, the aim was to create a place for solitude and safety. In the 1920s, steps were carved into the rock so pilgrims and the public could access them.

Sounds heavenly! Want something a little closer to home?

The Badlands in South Dakota might be for you. The Lakota named this area, and they say it is amazing and magical during sunrise and sunset. If you can be there during a full moon, that is even better. Let your spirit soar.

For the soul, how about the opportunity to volunteer for one of the various organizations wanting to help endangered species? Conserving coral reefs in Mauritius, monitoring whale sharks in Baja California, Mexico, monitoring puffins on the coast of Maine, caring for elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand, or volunteering at the cheetah conservation in Namibia.

If that sounds a bit exotic and farfetched, there are opportunities to help clean up beaches in Canada and the U.S. Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanup originally started in 1994 at the Vancouver Aquarium. Now operating in Canada and the United States, they have cleaned more than 44,000 kilometres of beaches.

If these options are not realistic then perhaps a new job is. We must take care of ourselves and make sure to guard against losing our soul and spirit.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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