Who Wants to be a Millionaire....or maybe an Esthetician?

Flash back about 20 years.  I'm lying in a dark room.  There's music playing.  I'm lying on my back in a warm bed.  There's a woman there, applying lovely smelling potions to my face.  I am calm.  Happy.  She massages my arms and shoulders...my scalp...my ears.  And in this moment, this hour of luxury, I have an epiphany.  This is what I want to do with my life.  I want to give others this experience.  I want to live this atmosphere.  I want to breathe it in.  I find joy here.  I want to be an esthetician.

I'd had a facial before.  The room was cold.  The esthetician smelled of cigarettes.  I walked away none the better for the experience.  But this time, it was different.  I felt peace.  And comfort.  And joy.  And a calling.  For 20 years, this calling has been on the back burner.  I've wanted it.  I've dreamed of it.  But I was in a comfortable job and raising my family.  It just wasn't the time.

Fast forward almost 20 years later.  I lost my job.  In the devastation that comes with losing something that you've worked hard for over a 32 year period, came an excitement for what lie ahead.  I would finally go to school and become what I'd dreamed.  But then came a job offer to do the same job that I'd always done.  Out of fear, I accepted.  Fear and my belief that things happen for a reason - that my path included this new job.  So I took it.  But I also continued my journey to becoming what I'd wanted to be - an esthetician.  I signed up for school.  I loved school.  When I did my first facial, I felt the joy I'd coveted.  And it went on.  Each facial, each body treatment, each service to a client, brought me new relationships.  I met people who needed what I had to give - an hour of relaxation and touch.  An hour of solitude and the gift of my attention.  I loved it.  All of it.

Sure, I'd love to be a millionaire too.  As an esthetician, I will never achieve that status unless I win the lottery - which has nothing to do with esthetics!  But I can tell you, that being a millionaire has never been my calling.  I am so happy that I've followed my heart.  Listen closely when your heart speaks.  Keep dreaming.  Keep dreaming.