When you look at my mom’s life while she was in college, it would be hard to predict that she would end up where she is today. A psychology major, she was on a path towards a career in nursing. And, that’s the path the followed for most of my childhood. After working in the wards for a period of time, she transition to working as a research nurse at our local VA hospital. She then took time off to take care of my brother and me. After a few years, she found herself doing some therapy work. And, as of right now, she is yoga teacher, running her own company. She teaches several classes a week that vary in difficulty from restorative sessions to challenging vinyasa flow classes. She handles publicity, advertising, space rentals and scheduling on a daily basis. And, she gets to do something she loves. I asked her recently why she decided to become a yoga teacher. Her response was something to the effect of, “I had so many patients when I was working in the wards that I didn’t have any time to help anybody. I just had to give them their medicine and move on to the next patient. You couldn’t pay enough attention to anybody and it didn’t feel like I was helping. As a yoga teacher, I can dedicate an hour to my students, give each of them attention and know that I will have helped them by the end of the class.” My mom’s career path took so many unexpected turns, but in end she’s still doing what she originally set out to do.

As someone who really likes to have a plan and an end goal, it can be easy for me to get caught up in the ways I feel like I am getting off track. I often feel like I need make sure I am taking all the steps to ensure my own success. However, it’s possible that I haven’t even thought of a lot things that might make happy in the future. Yoga came into my mom’s life just over five years ago and it ultimately lead to her finding what she really wanted to do. Hopefully, over the next few years, it will become easier for me to look for opportunities in unexpected places, instead of willing things to work out the way they need to. Who knows, maybe in thirty years I’ll have my own show on CNN. Or, maybe I’ll be a teacher, or a lawyer or a mom. Whatever happens, I hope that—like my mom—I never lose sight of what I am really passionate about.