R is a friend's gf who will be spending her one and only elective year doing intensive research for.... A specialty she has never seen before. Or worked in before. She just thinks it seems nice.

Granted, most young people don't know what the career path they choose really entails. Choices at a young age of 18 were gambles on gut feelings, hearsay, and dreams. I guess along the way, people either grow to like what they are doing, or they learn to deal with it. Or they move on to other pastures.

Heck, even at 25 I don't know if I want to stay in this job. In other industries it may seem like a young age to decide on a path to Forever, but it's getting late in mine. And the pressure is on us to make up our minds quick.

But how do I know if this is what I want to be? Do I want to do amazing work, recreate damaged limbs, save what was thought to be unsalvageable? Do I want to dedicate my life to feed this, spend one third of my days on call and another third zombified and (still) dragging myself around to work, and yet push myself to do more, do better, continually better myself?

Or do I want to explore all the other things that fill me with awe in this world? Try dancing because I've never felt confident enough to try it? Photograph animals and innocent children? Read books and get lost in their imaginary world? Learn to cook and bring a smile to the faces of others? Learn a new language or two, and try to immerse myself in another culture, another way of life, and be filled with awe? Marry a man whom I love, and open each others' eyes to the beautiful things in life to give thanks for, and be around for each other during the bad times?

But are these just romanticized ideals? Maybe I'm giving up a chance to 'seek excellence' for dreams that don't exist. For a man who won't come.

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Just like how we've been reminded again and again that there is no ideal/perfect spouse,
Perhaps there is no ideal/perfect job for each of us.

Maybe we just have to choose the best one that comes along.

I'm sure many people in the world are not together wi their 'ideal person', but have made do with someone else - perhaps settled for the best one that was around at that point in time.

Cynical? Maybe. But it's definitely conceivable right?

Perhaps that is really what life is.