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The Grateful Dead song lyrics are thought-provoking, especially the ones that Robert Hunter helped pen. Oftentimes poets are dressed as songwriters, and Hunter, Jerry Garcia, and Bob Weir, are no exception. And believe it or not, their songs contain a trove of career wisdom. Consider Truckin’.
Wandering the Road Looking for a Place in the World
The 1960s was a time of discovery, when countercultural hippies took to the road to find meaning and their place in the world. Their hearts and minds were filled with dreams the size of California. If only what they imagined matched the reality they encountered in their travels.
What most found was an existence made up mainly of run-of-the-mill days with a smattering of up and down days mixed in, those sunny and somber times that visit us. My dad calls this the Life’s 80-10-10 Rule, a rule that says our lives mainly consist of 80% ho-hum, 10% good and 10% bad days. Sadly, many of the 1960’s hippies lost their lust for life during those more lackluster days. Despite their familiarity with the road, many felt lost. Aside from chasing The Dead across country, their lives had little meaning. “Living on Reds, Vitamin C and cocaine” only got them so far. Wandering the country as a Dead Head had its limitations. What they discovered from a career standpoint, was selling tie-dyed tee sheets and paraphernalia in arena parking lots does not a long-term career make.
Taking to the Road
What the hippies correctly understood is that the road holds infinite possibilities. For kids of the 60s, it offered freedom and adventure to anyone willing to stuff a backpack and go. I wonder if the internet, with its superhighways to every and any destination, has robbed today’s youth of the mystery that taking to the road affords. Regardless, the road still offers every seeker an opportunity to find what he or she may be looking for.
We all have to get on the road, if we want to get where we are going career-wise. And while it may, at times, be difficult to discern what path you should take, you can take a step or make a move in any direction you choose. That’s probably the most comforting thing to realize about the road: it affords you an opportunity to take another step. The road is never-ending and you can get where you are meant to be if you just keep truckin’. If we remain willing to take another step, it will never be said of us, “What in the world ever became of Sweet Jane? She lost her sparkle; you know she isn’t the same.”
Walking the Walk as a Career Road Warrior
“Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me, Other times I can barely see.” Your career course will be comprised of steps and missteps, various movements that contribute to overall ground gained, and sometimes lost, along the way. Over and over, opportunities will present themselves, different paths from which to choose, that will shape who you are and who you become. Interestingly, all your steps are intertwined, woven together like a tapestry. Where you are on the journey today relates to where you have been and where you are going. After many steps, when you are further down the road, you may find yourself thinking (or singing), “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” But looking back you’ll see the path you’ve created, the end result of numerous steps taken as a career road warrior.
Looking Out the Window
Mystical or spiritual communications are hard to define, maybe by design. But their exact meaning is less important than your willingness to hear and respond to them. My guess is they occur more than we realize, we just fail to hear them because we are distracted by a variety of noises, like the unending clamor of Smart Phones with their apps, advertisements, and other streaming enticements.
“Sitting and staring out of a hotel window” is not something many of us do anymore. If you did, your inner voice might actually have something to say to you. The message The Dead received was that the cops were “gonna kick the door in again,” probably because of a drug bust. But the mystical message was received too late; with warrant in hand, the police banged on the door and they ended up “busted down on Bourbon Street.”
Never underestimate the importance of making time to listen to your inner voice, your IGS (internal guidance system). Identifying and heading in the right direction from a career standpoint is contingent on it. And it may help you avoid an unwanted career disaster.
You’ve Got to Play Your Hand
Roads often have tolls that need to be paid. Heeding your internal guidance system and creating your own path comes at a price. And herein lies the challenge for anyone seeking an amazing career adventure: you must count the cost and decide to pay it. Before taking your first step toward the life of employment you say you want, count the cost in emotional impact, monetary needs, and time involved. Is this the career you really want and are you willing to pay the price to obtain it? As The Dead said, “Sometimes the cards ain’t worth a dime if you don’t lay’em down.”
Keep on Truckin’
Questions like What does life look like down that road? and Who will I become if I take that path? may plague your mind. Or, you may wonder if you can leave behind all you know and trust that something amazing waits for you ahead. Despite your moments of self-doubt and fear, it’s up to you to make a move. You must resolve to take steps to create your own path because it is mapped not by aimlessly roaming about, but by thoughtful, purposeful movements and decisive steps that will blaze a trail.
Of course, if and when things on the road get really bad, you can always take a step back and reconnoiter. As The Dead note, sometimes you need to “sit down and patch [your] bones.” The road will still be there. It will continue to call. Just don’t let the seeker in you die while in recovery mode. And when you are ready—fully rested and patched up—“get back truckin’ on.”
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