Army of One: A Meaningful Resume'

July 31, 2004

A Meaningful Resume'

In the film, "Open Range" there's a scene where the hero of the film, played by Kevin Costner, of course, is urging a man and his sons to get involved in righting some injustice. Costner's character, Charlie, replies,

Well you may not know this, but there's things that gnaw at a man worse than dying.

I've been thinking about that quote on account of being generally bored out of my mind in my life for quite a while now. I've been thinking that I'd like to find a job in Iraq or Afghanistan. That's right. Two very dangerous places, but I'd rather die doing something meaningful than die of boredom.

It's not that I'm an adrenaline addict or that I have some kind of death wish. It's more that I want to spend my life doing something with a sense of meaning and purpose rather than just marking off the days.

I don't have any desire to kill people or be shot at myself but I do have a few skills to support our effort over there. (know anyone Jen?)

I'm reminded of a commercial a few years back. (I think it was for monster.com) Anyway, it had kids saying things like, "When I grow up I want to be downsized at my company" and "I want to grow up to be a corporate bureaucrat." Well, I'm all grown up and I have a great job, but guess what? Kids don't talk about how they'd like to be me when they grow up.

Now, if you're a friend of mine. Don't worry. I'm not going to run off and do anything stupid. And I admit, I don't have a meaningless occupation or existence. Still, there's a restlessness that has me searching.

Let's see, a hypothetical resume would say something like,
"Corporate VP, CIO of a medium sized health care corporation seeks meaningful employment. Doesn't drink or smoke or do drugs. A responsible family guy who is looking for a challenge."

So - know anyone that's hiring?

Posted by jdmays at July 31, 2004 08:53 PM | TrackBack

Due to the proliferation of comment spam, I've had to close comments on this entry. If you would like to leave comment, please use one of my recent entries. Thank you and sorry for any inconvience caused.

Comments

When I read this post of yours, I have the song "Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan going through my head, where he sings "Why wait any longer for the world to begin?"

I have some suggestions. You could run for U. S. Senate. You could start a company that allows individuals to own their own health care, and be responsible for it. You could start grooming your replacement at where you work, so these wonderful things, there won't be any disruptions. You could do the IT for Medecins Sans Frontiers

I'm reading a book called Why Your Life Sucks and What You Can Do About It by Alan Cohen. It might be useful.

Posted by: Douglas at August 3, 2004 06:39 AM

Douglas,
I didn't remember that line from the Dylan song until you mentioned it. Well, none of the other things I've mentioned have changed, it's just that I'm a little impatient.
It's easy to forget that the so-called rising star Barrick Obama was just an Illinois Senator last year or that the speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach before running for congress.
We'll see what happens...

Posted by: JDM at August 3, 2004 10:24 PM

I read how Alan Keyes has been chosen as the sacrificial lamb Republican candidate for Senate. I thought he was from Maryland. But it should make for some electrifying debate!

Posted by: Douglas at August 5, 2004 06:11 AM

Posted by: citibank master card at November 2, 2004 11:10 AM