Mid-career Issues

Wait. By saying this does that mean I automatically have to be early career?

Thinking about my career a bit in light of some very positive news (I got a grant awarded with me as PI for the first time). I’m mid-career, probably tending toward the end of that particular moniker. Has my career been stellar? Am I a science rock star? Will I be in line for a Nobel? I’ve been reflecting on these questions (well, maybe not the last one too much) and have come up with the following thinking. I am a successfully employed scientist, who basically gets to choose what I research (within the confines of funding availability), and who I work with. I have been in this position for over 20 years (if you count my post-doc time) and I love my job. This puts me in a pretty special position - like if you’re a baseball player playing the minor leagues but doing great at it. There are very few rock stars in the world - but there are also very few scientists (relatively speaking) - and I get to be one of them. Also I get to draw cartoons and comics about the experience to share with the world, which is a pretty great side benefit. So, when I see other scientists in my field who ARE rock stars and start to feel jealous, I just think about how incredibly lucky (and privileged) I am to be where I am at and to be able to do what I do AND that I get paid to do it!