Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

I missed your latest post- would have answered earlier.

You wrote: “in our teen years, we are still struggling between child and adult not sure of our place in the world”- I don’t know if I personally know a single adult who is sure of his/ her place in the world. I am getting more of an idea about my place, but this is recent and following lots of healing.

Be flexible. The question a child is often asked (or used to be asked): “What do you want to do when you grow up?” suggests inflexibility, as if there is a permanent role or “place in the world” that an adult receives or has to find, or locate at a certain age. No such thing. Many remain in a career for decades, follow the same line of work or advance in the same career. But many people do not. And those who do, often do so feeling stuck, motivated by benefits of having seniority at work and having to pay bills.

No magical … placement happens to adults and no such thing, in my opinion, needs to be located. You aim at something, evaluate if this is something you can do and still want to do, over time. You don’t have to be this or that. Shake of rigidity of thinking and objective setting, allowing for flexibility.

It is this flexibility necessary for the laid back attitude you want to have, isn’t it?

anita