The car in front of me on my way home last night had a numberplate of ‘MEP’. Member of European Parliament, I thought to myself. Thank God there are people out there who are willing to do that dreadful job.

And then I remembered that most MEPs are probably MEPs because they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. Just like most accountants are accountants, most dog-walkers are dog-walkers, most writers are writers. Because somehow, it suits them to be doing the job they are doing.

I’m also including people who don’t enjoy their jobs, because somehow it ‘suits them’ better than the alternative (the fear of leaving, the fear of failing… whatever it is). I don’t believe much in accidents. The jobs we’re in and the way we feel about them can tell us a lot about how we are in the world.

This reminds me of an article on Tess Gerritsen’s blog about how we write (via Jane’s site, thank you). In it she reminds us that the only way we can write (forge our careers, live our lives) is our own way.

It would be much simpler if someone else could tell us what we should be doing. But I’ve never liked being told what to do. I like not wanting to be an MEP. I’m even sort of fond of my struggles, because they are my struggles. Everything in my life is there because it suits me – however much I might rail against it. Acknowledging this is the very beginning of change.