Just Thinking

It's Saturday morning and I'm going to head up to the high school and walk the track. It's nice but mild out, and I'd love to get some fresh air before it turns hot and humid this afternoon.

For a year or so I've thought off and on, although pretty seriously, about applying to join the Peace Corps. Early on in my MBA, and even before, I remember trying to nail down my "perfect job" and thinking it would somehow involve helping to build infrastructures for developing countries. Just using my finance skills in some way that would bring order where it would assist progress. I focused on UN jobs and didn't really get anywhere, and then I ended up with the amazing opportunity to live in Japan and do my banking thing.

This morning there's an article on Yahoo! entitled, "World to Peace Corps: Skilled volunteers needed." It's really talking about recruiting people able to assist with the HIV/AIDS crisis, and how the retiring Boomers might be able to fill that need, but it got me thinking again about what I was going after several years ago, and about my recent thoughts about applying to the PC.

Right or not, the main things that hold me back from doing it now are wanting to be near family after almost 4 years away in Japan, worrying about my severely under-funded retirement accounts, and having first-hand knowledge of how difficult, at least for me, it is to assimilate back into American culture after being away. I'm sure those reservations would horrify a hard-core PC'er, but I think the article freed me up to think honestly about my true concerns. Although at the same time the article makes me think that it could be a really good fit for me, as it talks about the PC of the future not being centered as much on "youthful zeal." That's good because my zeal isn't that youthful anymore.

And now the vile slumlord is shattering my peaceful bubble with the riding lawnmower below my window, so I'm outtie. More thoughts at another time.