From entrepreneur to carer - the poorly paid epiphany

My next career move was somewhat lacking in any entrepreneurial qualities as it decidedly lacked any earning capacity. But what it lacked in wages it certainly made up for life's rich experience.
I decided to do voluntary work at a summer play-scheme for children with learning disabilities.
This was one thunder buster of a speedy education into how different life could be AND how beautifully positive some individuals are when they have not been dealt the easiest hand.

Fourteen year old children are innately walking ego's. The whole world is against them, especially their parents. Everyone hates them, leaves them out, forces them to do stuff, treats them unfairly, doesn't understand them.... Life is cruel and everyone else's parents are SOOOO much cooler...

Well I am pretty confident that I was no exception to this teen hell zone and embraced this delightful phase with the sulky sullen face it warranted. That was until I walked into that play-scheme. This should almost be made a compulsory activity for all hard done by, self absorbed teenagers. There is nothing more grounding than facing a room full of children of a similar age to yourself, who really do have a right to feel that life hasn't treated them fairly.
Obviously lots of the kids were blissfully oblivious to their limitations, but equally so there were plenty who could look at me, with my life, and identify that they would never have the same opportunities that I would. Did they complain? Did they moan and sulk about it? Did they blame their parents? Did they heck!!! I know I am making sweeping generalisations  but my life changing epiphany came from the view, through my 14 year old eyes, of a room full of happy kids who were ready to make the most of what they had got rather than moan about what they hadn't.

My mind was made up by about 11am on day one ... I would be skipping the entrepreneurial money making future I had mapped out and would be following a career working with people with learning disabilities.

As usual I hit the ground running... Later that same day I over heard the leaders saying that there was a lad with cerebral palsy who could not attend the play scheme because he was epileptic and the bus assistant couldn't administer rectal medication if he had a seizure in transit. By 4 pm on day one I had volunteered to visit the family, be taught how to give the rectal med and take over as the bus assistant because I couldn't bear the thought of this lad missing out over something so simple to fix...
Using my own initiative and enthusiasm may not have been a winner with the gardening career but seeing how thrilled that mum was when I visited; and seeing that lads face light up each day at the play scheme was a bigger buzz than earning a billion in business...
My entrepreneurial days were over and my learning disability nursing days begun.

So looking forward to attending PACE family day in Elsie this summer... Elsie and I love nothing more than being able to attend any events to raise money for charities and services for people with disabilities and their carers and families.