430 Breezy Lane: closed doors that might just open

While I was walking through one door,

with the road map highlighted with the path to the next doorway ....

they were preparing the lock on the door.

When the time came for me to walk through that door I was aiming for,

I walked up to it, tried the latch and found it locked.

This particular lock can be opened, however, the opening of the lock carries a price.

A price that must be weighed against the benefit.

This time the price is too high.

A long time ago (at least it feels like it!), after I finished nursing school, I took a class to learn treatment for eliminating allergies in a natural way. It was absolutely fascinating. I've seen tremendous results from it and it has been a life style saver in the lives of some people. While I still continue to treat my family, and myself, I wasn't comfortable treating others without again going through the classes. It helps that the classes are held in California and are a nice little getaway as well!

Life happened along the way. A door opened and presented an opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree in nursing at no financial cost to myself. Serious. My financial burden for the piece of paper I now hold cost the sum total of about $38 or whatever I paid for PERRLA to write my papers in APA format. So I got busy with family celebrations, moving households and finishing a degree. Now I am done with that piece of life and was ready to move on to the next.

Sometime in the past year and a half, the state of California has changed its requirements and I can no longer take the class that I wanted to. I was hoping to mix and balance my present working situation with a complement of alternative healing therapies ... at some point moving away from the land of pharmaceutical, politically motivated, corporate healthcare and on to that of holisitic therapies.

I started looking for a class and found that things had changed. Last I looked (and it was while I was completing my BSN) I needed to take a 2 day class in acupressure. Doable. Totally. Now I need to be a licensed acupuncturist in the state I practice in. That would be a great big SLAM!
To be a licensed acupuncturist in the state of Arizona, I need a Masters Degree from the Phoenix Insitute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture. That means a 48 month program at the tune of $62,500 plus another $4,800 for books. Or, I can always pursue a degree as a Nurse Practitioner and that takes the place of the acupuncturist. As an NP, I could take the several day acupressure class and be considered good to go. That isn't happening either. I enjoy my family too much for that business.

At the moment, I see myself in a maze. Wandering around looking for a door that isn't locked solid, has something interesting and fulfilling behind it, and doesn't require a financial debt load. It's out there somewhere ... I just have to find it.

***************

Well .... whodathunk it ....

I wrote this last weekend I think.
And then I kept it to myself. I sorta do that once in awhile.

I spent the week in a humdrum mood.
While I sent out feelers, in the form of email, to see if I could sneak in the door without this extensive extra education that I really don't want, I spent a disappointing week.
It is rather disheartenting to have the rug yanked out from under you.
And while this yank wasn't the size of the living room carpet, rather a throw rug size, it was still disappointing.

But after a three or four day pity party, I got back on the bus.
Thursday I started researching classes for a real estate license.
Okay.
Maybe I have a problem.
My rationale for the real estate deal was really rather simple.
Hubby and I could do this together.
In all that spare time we have just waiting to be filled up.

Then Friday came.
I was busy doing fun and crafty kinds of things.
My world was quiet ... filled with the sounds of a great book in my ear and the sewing machine humming in front of me.
At some point, my fingers meandered over the mailbox on my phone.
(What on earth would my grandmother think about that handy little phone contraption?!)
And just like that .....