With my research project this year involving further studies of Christianity, studying the Shinto and Buddhist religions and renewing my study of Japanese, I’m finding myself distracted by an urge to visit Japan again and even take up a position teaching theology there.
If my wife were agreeable to spending some extended time there, what kind of employment would I pursue? I have little in the way of formal certification despite spending many years at college, not that many of those courses really contributed to my career – in the end, they were for my own interest. Even in my long employment history, there is little to make me seem appealing enough to inspire a foreign company to employ me. The most common choice would be as an assistant language teacher, but even that requires a University degree – something that I have neither time nor finances to acquire.
Usually when I consider this, I might normally become depressed that I didn’t pursue higher academic goals – many of the studies that I engage in now could have been a great career path if I had known in my youth how my life had turned out. But I’m not depressed or disappointed by the missed opportunities; I consider that I am in my early Fourties, in possession of fair health and a good mind, there is nothing to stop me acquiring the qualifications I desire through other methods.
I’ve signed up with free online courses to learn Japanese, I’ve enrolled with a free online theological University to study. Certificates can be acquired at the end of the course for a modest fee. When the school holidays are over, I will make contact with a number of Japan related organisations in the city. There is no end to the amount of resources that can be obtained online or from the library.
I’m hopeful, encouraged and inspired – I feel good things ahead.
Sometimes you have to approach a goal via the scenic route.
Thinking Allowed 
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