Ultrasonology to Counselling: Changing My Life at 45

Hi, let me share my own life experience with you all. I had been working as a professional ultrasonologist in India for the last 15 years and was happily busy with my life. My children performed well in school, I was financially independent, and having a supportive husband and in-laws, I was able to maintain a balance between work and home.

Two years ago, my husband was offered the opportunity to relocate to Singapore: since I had always wanted to experience living in a new place, I whole-heartedly made the decision to close my clinic and move to Singapore with my family. This also allowed me to focus on my family rather than my career, which I had been developing for over a decade. When I broke the news to my colleagues, I received mixed reactions; while some of them were supportive, most of them instantly declared the decision to be erratic and senseless. According to them, I was making an irreparable mistake, as no one with good sense would leave their career at its peak and uproot a well-settled life at middle-age. Nevertheless, the ball had been set in motion already, and with the help of loving friends and family, we started the process of relocation. Very quickly into the moving process however, I realised how great an ordeal relocating is, and since neither my husband nor I had ever moved before, we found ourselves unprepared for all the challenges it entailed.
Even though moving to Singapore was a tough and tiring process, I was having a ball experiencing this new aspect of life. I had never done any household chores before, seldom cooked, or maintained a kitchen by myself. And yet, there I was, managing a household on my own for the very first time — at 44! Each day brought something new to learn and in 6 months I was deftly taking care of my home, feeding yummy cuisines to my family, and hosting parties. Wow! I was so proud of myself.

After a year and a half, boredom started settling in. I had a lot of free time which I wanted to use productively. People, be it my clients, friends, or relatives, have always told me that they like talking to me, that they feel comfortable and safe discussing their issues, and that just talking about their problems while I listen makes them feel better. Since I enjoy helping people whenever I can, and am genuinely interested in the intricacies of human nature, I had done a masters’ programme in family counselling (I will tell this story another time) that I completed just before I moved. So, I started finding ways to kill my boredom by developing this skill, and signed up for more psychology courses online and volunteered with organisations promoting mental health. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work on a long-term basis.

This brings us to the present.

Last year, I decided that I would put my degree and my passion to use, and start working as a counsellor. You, dear reader, are witnessing my first steps in the process — I hope to start out with this blog, and eventually develop an online counselling website. Through this, I hope to help as many people as I can, and create a space where people can talk and interact freely, without being judged.