What you're looking for? It's just around the corner, right in front of your nose.

Perhaps you're just not stopping to listen and really look in front of you.  Stop searching and it may even come up and bite you on the nose!

(Which is actually a good thing, by the way...)

Here's what I mean.

Ah, Sanibel,  you sweet little island...

It was the last day of my Sanibel Island vacation, and I'd found bupkiss on my shelling expedition thus far.  Sanibel is known for its extraordinary shells, and I'd brought home many beautiful bounties in past years.  


But not this time, unfortunately, despite days of combing the sandy beaches.
I felt despondent, not just 
because I'd soon be going home empty-handed, but I'd also be leaving the beach, one of my most cherished spots, where I have always found solace and hope and peace and possibilities.

I decided to plop down on the sand and relax.  "Enjoy the moment, I told myself, "just relax and stop searching... for everything and nothing."  And, lo and behold, as I was sitting on the sand, listening to the waves, noticing how picturesque my sandy bare toes looked against the ocean's blue green tint, I saw them:  tiny, intricate shells- fully formed miniature versions of seemingly every shell I'd ever discovered on Sanibel Island.

I savored the terrifically gratifying moment that I'd created myself.  I'd looked around the corner!

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Often times when people discover their ideal "sweet spot" of a career path, they'll admit that they'd been considering at least some version of that path but pushed away the possibility.  I remember when I was in my twenties, looking at a career book, thinking, "I wonder if I could do what these people (the authors) do.  I mean, I actually like careers as a subject.  All of the choices are really fascinating.  Maybe that's why I explore so many of them...."

Then I instinctively turned the book over to the back cover.  Yup, just as I'd suspected, the writers had PhD's.  So much for that, I immediately determined.  Didn't have the money or the desire to enroll in Psychology classes for the next decade.  But what I didn't consider is exactly what I ask clients to consider:  how can you use the subject that fascinates you as a tool?  A means to an end?  For instance instead of thinking, "I'd have to get a PhD to write a book," I needed to consider the possibility that a)you don't have to write a book to be a career consultant and b)there are other, very successful books about careers that are not written by PhD's .

Obviously, being a career coach was a possibility, and when, nearly a decade later, I really explored that possibility I found out that I had a fantastic set of aptitudes and skills that were perfect for coaching others on how to thrive in their careers and lives.

So next time you are searching for something, try this on for size:  stop panicking, lamenting and naysaying.  Rather, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and ask yourself, "Could my answer be just around the corner, right in front of my nose?"

Then open your eyes and see with a newfound optimism for discovery.