Identity Crisis

Identity Crisis – Eating Humble Pie

I currently make my living as the accountant for our local Public Housing Authority. It’s not a career that I overtly chose. Rather, it’s what I fell into after my chosen livelihood, chiropractic, completely disintegrated around me following statewide insurance industry changes 5 years ago. When I was initially hired by the Housing Authority, I was forbidden from using my prior title, so as to not confuse the residents and also to insure that my focus was on my new responsibilities and not elsewhere.

I consider myself to be extraordinarily blessed having found work at the Housing Authority when I did. It enabled me to keep my house, and my marriage too for that matter, after the loss of my prior career. Furthermore, considering that I had not worked in accounting for nearly 25 years, and I’m not the youngest tool in the shed anymore, getting anyone to take such a chance on me was nothing short of miraculous. Admittedly, the pay is at a fraction of what I had become accustomed to, but it’s steady and secure.

I remember once, after having worked at my new job for about a year, my boss asked me, innocently enough I think, “You used to work as a chiropractor. Were you allowed to be called ‘Doctor’ by your patients?” Some might have been bothered by such a question. After all, I once had a thriving, waiting-list chiropractic practice and was fortunate enough to be living my dream life. But, life doesn’t always go according to our plans. Rather than dwelling on all I had lost, I was (and still am several years later) profoundly grateful for what I still had and all that this new job had enabled me to salvage. I’m still alive, I still have my home and I’m still married to the love of my life.

“Yes, they used to call me Doctor.”