The Heist

My daughter and I love heist movies.

It’s so entertaining to watch a person or group of people do the impossible, to come up with a plan to break into a room that’s meant to be unbreakable, to beat the odds with ingenuity, careful calculation, and unrelenting optimism.

I suppose it’s this love of great heists that fuels me as a career counselor.

People come to me seeking a treasure that seems out of reach: purpose, peace, connection, a fat payout, all bundled up and tucked under a bulletproof case in a steel room with no door. We go over what they’ve tried — great ideas — but with so many failed attempts, they’ve gotten discouraged.

I don’t have a key — what good is a key when there is no door! I just have this thing with love where I never give up. I’m the stubborn safe-cracker, the wide-eyed lunatic, clutching blueprints, with a bevy of tools and the crazy idea that no room is completely locked, and no treasure is out of reach.