Wanderlust

A friend asked me, “Where do you wanna go?”

“Everywhere,” I replied. “I want to go everywhere and see everything.”

Two or three years ago, I started writing  a bucket list. I Don’t know why I did or what got into me, but I did it anyway. Maybe it’s because of the realization that nothing lasts/lives forever so might as well do what you can today.

That list, amounted to about a hundred items I think.

Another friend of mine asked, “Why are you guys looking at bucket lists? Are you going to die?”

“We’re all going to die,” I told him.

Then he said, after claiming that he is an immortal, “I only have three things in my bucket list: 1)To live happy, 2)to die happy, 3)to make others happy.”

I looked at him and said: “that’s a good list.”

My bucket list has been trimmed down ever since. Not because I was able to do a few things that I crossed themoff of my list. It’s just that, my priorities and dreams and aspirations shifted over the years. So far, my list consists of:

1.       Travel everywhere

2.       Climb a mountain

3.       Bungee jumping and/or skydiving

4.       Learn a language (Italian)

5.       Get a tattoo. I’m still contemplating on the design but I already have most of it figured out.

6.       To live

I want to live. I want to climb mountains and cross seas. I want to go to museums,art exhibits, music festivals and film screenings and libraries. I want to marvel at how those people were able to express themselves in such vivid ways. I want to see the wild life! I want to see the sun rise and set without worrying about later or tomorrow. I want to…god! I want to live!

I want to be in perpetual awe of this world and the people in it. I want to be dauntless enough to see the great perhaps. I want to always have this zest, this passion for life, this wanderlust. And I want to be able to write it as it happens.

Here it is!

I was asked by a former colleague if I would be willing to answer a few questions for his thesis. Obviously I said yes...hence, here we are. As much as I would like to post his questions along sode with my answers, I have to stop myself since I am not quite sure if it will jeopardize his efforts in completing his thesis...plus I didn't want to be accused of plagiarism if that's even possible in the given situation. So below, you will find the slightly edited, if not, answers that I gave him. And in case you were wondering, this was conducted via email so I have a copy of my answers. XD
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Primarily, it was my decision to be a nurse. Although it may have been influenced by my mother. She was always hinting on it then. She still is.

My experience as a practitioner opened my mind to the hard facts of this life. It has taught me how to deal with different people from different walks of life. From irate parents to snotty brats. Rich, important people. Indigents. Name the categories. I have probably dealt/interacted with them.

Unemployment or underemployment of nurses are,I believe, caused by businessmen who thought it was a fabulous idea to earn a profit by putting up nursing schools without or with little regard to the quality of nurses that they are producing.      
                                                 
Nurse volunteerism has to stop. This is one of the main reasons why nurses are switching careers. Who would want to work 12 hour shifts for 4 days a week with little to no compensation? These are hard times and it is not fair to subject these people who have trained and studied for 4 years and took a qualifying exam to practice the profession to volunteer! Volunteerism is not going to end though. Hospitals will not initiate to end this practice since they profit from it.  Most nurses wouldn't dare to report for gear of the consequences. What of they shut the hospitals down? Where would the nurses go? There is no hospital in this country that does not have any volunteer nurses. They may be called differently, but it is all the same.

(I believe the question here was along the lines of a solution for the growing number of under-,if not unemplyed nurses in this country.)
by creating more job opportunities of course...
there are many out there. they just have to explore and open their minds to options. being a licensed professional does not mean that they can only be a nurse. If one is willing to learn then the opportunity to be employed is endless
                               
Primary reason why I stopped working as a nurse is because...I got tired of the environment I was working in and the people I was working with. It just became too toxic at one point that I was not enjoying it anymore.

Secondary reason was I felt the need to grow and prove that I can be something else aside from being a nurse. It didn't seem right to me that I should be confined to a job that 1)I was no longer happy with, 2) that was preventing me from exploring other opportunities.

It was my sole decision to shift careers.

Right now I work in the BPO industry...it has always been an option for me so it was not hard at all during the transition process. Aside from the change of location I'd say everything went smoothly. I can't say that I am better at this job than being a nurse or vice versa for that matter. Both require certain skills and I have been trained to do both jobs well.

Have I achieved peace of mind and fulfillment...yes i think so. Satisfaction though is a different story. I think I will always crave for more. I'm the type of person kasi na pag nasa buffet eh itatry ko lahat ng putahe.

I dont have any regrets. None at all. I was never not going to be here. This was always meant to happen. I was always going to make the decisions that i made.

I never said that I would not go back. It is something to consider but as we speak i dont think im ready yet. I would have to exhaust all my curiosity for my current profession before I go back.

Five to ten years from now, career wise, i see myself as a published writer. Hopefully a successful one too. Will i be practicing nursing again by that time?I honestly dont know.

(This last bit I think I can share. I was asked what would I tell the younger version of me...or something like that.)

 I'd tell myself "Thou shall not be daunted."

A/N:
I apologize for the punctuations and capitalizations. It is not easy to edit an article using a mobile phone at 2:21 in the morning. So forgive me if there was any mistake that I missed to correct.