employment options doing something meaningful..

[Pineal Paradigm]

I'm at a bit of a turning point in my life, I'm in my mid 20's, currently working a locally owned pest control job in Illinois which to me is unfulfilling because of the guilt I feel when I'm using chemicals to destroy life (as I spend a lot of my time promoting environmental respect.) Sometimes it's a necessary evil when people are in danger due to infestations but other than that I don't feel great about the work I'm doing, mostly a convenience thing as the people I work with are fun and we have a good time and the shop I work at is a block away from my house, but I'm not trying to make a career out of it.

Obviously I'm here with you guys because I hold certain interests like exposing corruption, saving our planet, extraterrestrials, the paranormal etc. Just wondering if any of you have any ideas or currently have an occupation that allows you to make ends meat and still makes a difference at the end of the day. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

[RUSirius]

No, not making any difference at all either, but in the process of attempting to shift gears as well.

[Lifebringer]

Be careful w/the chemicals. If it kills one small life form quick, it will get larger lifeforms in a longer span of years, but get you they will. Keep hand covered and washed, please by all means a ventilation filter mask.

[lucidity]

I'm at a bit of a turning point in my life, I'm in my mid 20's, currently working a locally owned pest control job in Illinois which to me is unfulfilling because of the guilt I feel when I'm using chemicals to destroy life (as I spend a lot of my time promoting environmental respect.) Sometimes it's a necessary evil when people are in danger due to infestations but other than that I don't feel great about the work I'm doing, mostly a convenience thing as the people I work with are fun and we have a good time and the shop I work at is a block away from my house, but I'm not trying to make a career out of it.

Obviously I'm here with you guys because I hold certain interests like exposing corruption, saving our planet, extraterrestrials, the paranormal etc. Just wondering if any of you have any ideas or currently have an occupation that allows you to make ends meat and still makes a difference at the end of the day. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi PP,

I strongly suspect..... people are willing to pay for eco-friendly pest control.

My suggestion is:
Set up your own business, doing pest control, in the most eco-friendly way possible.

If you do the research you'll find that some pesticides bio-degrade and don't persist
in the environment (use those in preference to the persistent variety).

You might find that certain herbs / plants already do an excellent job of deterring pests.
For example the oil from the neem tree is spectacular as a fungicide, antibiotic, pesticide etc.

What kind of pests ... exactly ?

I know that ants are repelled by simple olive oil (because one of the oils in olive oil
is chemical signal to ants that basically means .... "avoid this area" )

There's probably something similar for termites.

I remember reading something about an ingredient in some herb that makes
mice .... or was it rats?... infertile. Find out what that is... and stop their
numbers growing. There's also humane rodent traps.

Maybe... start with a website... do some jobs at the weekends or evenings
for the first few months.... eventually there will be more work than you
can do during the weekends and evenings... that's the time to consider
going solo.

It's just a suggestion.

be happy :-)

lucidity

[Ernie Nemeth]

My job is important - I supply power to wherever anyone needs it. But it is not fulfilling, in and of itself. The best part is meeting new people and showing them what a real person can truly be like. I often cut through the bull crap and bring a bit of truth to their otherwise humdrum lives. And I do it at a discount no other electrician would dream of providing.

The trades are an honest way of making a living doing necessary, important work for everyday, normal people.

Sounds like you might be a candidate, since you already work with your hands. An honest day's work, doing something vital can have its own rewards...

[skyflower]

I think only you can really know what type of work you will truly find fulfilling. You will need to do some soul searching.

I am still looking for it myself, and I have many more years under my belt than you. :blushing:
It's been a journey. I have moved across many fields, travelled to distant lands and back, and am still looking.
I think I could have saved myself some headache by doing some soul searching before diving head first into different lines of work, but on the flip side of the coin, it's been quite an adventure.

Here are two books I have read recently that really helped me to put myself into the right frame of mind.

"How I found freedom in an unfree world" by Harry Brown. This one helped me identify traps in my mind set up by society.
"The science of getting rich" by Wallace wattles. This one helped me "program" my mind to the right frequency for well...getting what I want. I recommend getting "the science of being great" , as it is a great complementary reading to the first book.

You can sample these books at Amazon, and see if these peek your interest.

Happy journey!

[Pineal Paradigm]

Thanks lucidity, excellent idea! Plenty of my clients want to stray away from chemicals and would rather use natural remedies for their problems. I've thought about that in the past but questioned the effectiveness of some of the natural remedies I've seen, I'll certainly do some research in the area and maybe scheme something up. And as far as the pests go mainly insects, spiders, mice, bed bugs, roaches, termites etc. Some jobs have got to be done with chems but I will say the pest control industry has definitely come a-ways in the last decade or so. none of the products I use are nearly as hardcore as the stuff they used before the millennium.
And Ernie I totally agree and that may be the redeeming factor of the job is that I get to provide a service for people and make an impression on them and since we're local I'm able to provide at a fraction of the cost of our corporate competitors.

[Pineal Paradigm]

That's definitely a concern of mine, you can try to avoid getting the stuff on ya all you want but it doesn't matter. I try to stay on top of it and take extra precautions when dealing with most of our chemicals, nearly everything we use now is clay based which doesn't seep right into your skin like the oil based stuff that was used throughout the 1900's did.
Be careful w/the chemicals. If it kills one small life form quick, it will get larger lifeforms in a longer span of years, but get you they will. Keep hand covered and washed, please by all means a ventilation filter mask.

[Pineal Paradigm]

Thanks skyflower, I will certainly give those a look. That's about the point I'm at now is in the soul searching phase of really trying to find out what I'd really like to do.

[Rollo]

I have the opportunity to sell independent mini waste water treatment stations up to 20 persons per household.
It is not my field and I need to learn a lot of things. By being in this business I can help Gaia to get treated,
way cleaner water back to her body.

[Dennis Leahy]

An excellent topic, Pineal Paradigm. "Right Occupation" is one of the "eight-fold path" considerations for a Buddhist, and with good reason.

There are MANY jobs that are not just terrible for the worker, but terrible for the Earth and for all life. People feel trapped, that there is nothing else for them to do...

There are jobs that embrace life, too. You're young enough where you can pick one and try it, see if it meets all your needs as well as being something positive for the Earth and life itself. If not, you can try another. You may also want to think in terms of being an "owner" rather than an "employee" simply by starting your own - possibly one-man - company (where you are able to handle every situation that arises in a manner that reflects your commitment to the health of the planet and her lifeforms.)

One field (figuratively and literally) is agriculture, specifically organic agriculture. All farming in the US used to be family farming. The vast majority of farming in the US is now giant agribiz mono-crop farms, and they ALL use pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides - and most grow from genetically modified seeds, too. The number of people that want organic food goes up every year - the demand is there. Just a thought.

[gripreaper]

This is a high demand job currently if you live in California. Apparently the paint they are using is a bio-based product that is good for the earth! they're killin it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6lTl9JIW5Y

[Mike]

There are 2 schools of thought here:

1. It's not necessarily what you do for a living that's important, but the attitude you bring to the job every day.

2. Only do what you're highly passionate about, and settle for nothing less.

I exist somewhere in the middle.

Sometimes you have to do what you don't want to do for a while in order to eventually do what you want to do....like the actress that waits tables etc.

I'd suggest you do what you have to do to survive until your side interests become lucrative enough to live on. And always be on guard for opportunities. That's the life of the artist, basically. And making money at something youre passionate about is nothing if not an art...at least initially.

[Pineal Paradigm]

I really appreciate the feedback from everyone, really made me feel better about my situation and gave me several ideas to play with about what direction I want to take my life, just starting to really utilize this forum recently and its definitely a comforting feeling having people on a similar wave length to chat with. I live in a town of about 40k people and have many good friends and a beautiful girlfriend of 7 years but still somehow feel completely feel alone sometimes until I get on here. Quite refreshing really :cheers:

[Heartsong]

Just a few thoughts about work and jobs and their place in the scheme of things.
It would be nice if jobs were always fulfilling but the truth is they're not. It's always a balancing act. In the book I just read a character spoke about all of us having two selves, one needed to survive and another that is our real self.

Line up your values, rank them on a scale that runs from "absolutely essential" to "willing to do without under the right circumstances". Include money, style, daily duties, family obligations, love life, location, ethics, morality....anything that pops into your mind. Perhaps from doing that you will have a general sense of direction .. like,

I don't want to move
no working on weekends
I want a desk job.
I want to work with highly educated, enlightened people (good luck with that one!)
I want to work with my hands (or analytical skills, or mathematics)
Don't need more than $40,000 a year.
I want heavy interaction with people.
I want to work alone.

and so on.
The important thing is to write them down and rank them or give them point values. Then look at the list again in a month or even 6 months. It will point you in the right direction while you are looking for fulfillment.

[xbusymom]

Everywhere is hurting for school bus drivers and bus aids. I never thought I would enjoy being a school bus driver, but it is the longest-held job I have ever had, and it is certainly a change from the political games in a traditional office. Its not my passion, but it does provide a lot of 'independence' in the workplace, and also big chunks of time mid-day, holidays and a good portion of the summer to do what I do 'luv'. I have a combined website for my self-created product lines (store), a conspiracy-info comparison section, and a large section for self-sufficiency resource links.

* PM me and I can email you a form for figuring out your life-purpose... Here is mine (which allows for lots of possibilities...)

{The purpose of my life is to use my
creativity, adaptability, caring, and resourcefulness

by
sharing alternative possibilities,
offering techniques for organizing and planning, and teaching how to develop and adapt to different styles of communicating

so that
I assist people in finding creative solutions to problems and developing successful methods for personal and professional growth.}

[meeradas]

OT (not really):
One of my friends said, "I haven't worked a single day in the last forty years" [that's a pro musician speaking].
Imo, that's it.
If you can say that, you are/have been doing the right thing (the most meaningful thing to you) in your life, as a "job".