I'm still having trouble with negative thinking. I'm a 54 y/o female, and just got fired from a job. I've decided to go back to school and become a Registered Medical Assistant. Hooray that I'm going back to school, but my head is saying I "should have become an RN by now". I keep telling myself that I'm too intelligent to be JUST a medical assistant. But emotionally, I could never cut it as an RN. At 54, the sense of never amounting to anything is incredible. My guilt is working overtime! How do we get over our sense of failure?

Hi Ginger808:
I have often heard and read that we are a people 'doing' in stead of 'being'. I used to have those 'feelings of failure'.
But really, what is success?? Just think about it.
Believe me you aren't a failure.
You aren't your job or your title.
You are very important to someone.
You are a human BEING.

I used to think that I had to BE SOMETHING.
Then as the years rolled by I reallized that I just had to BE.

Whatever you do, just do the best you can.
If that is working on a garbage truck, just do the best job you can, Or whether you are a full-fledged doctor - just do the best you can. And you aren't a failure.

Just keep working the program and go on back to school.
And be proud of who you are! Talk soothingly to yourself.
I hope this makes sense. Accepting yourself goes a long way.
I'll be thinking of you.
Mary Jane

Cornflower- thank you so much for your post. It made my day! (Actually it made me cry). Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. It made so much sense to me!