Here I am with less than 5 weeks of grad school standing between me and a Master's Degree, less than 2 months between me and living at/on the beach, fulfilling a longtime dream of doing so, a couple of months into a relationship that makes me just about as happy as I think I could be with perhaps the greatest guy on the face of the Earth [don't tell him I said so] [gotta keep him guessing, you know] [but seriously, he's amazing], and a year or two or more into friendships with my closest friends to date and they actually still like me!!
I moved to this city a little over 3 years ago with a part time job, a tiny one bedroom apartment, and not a friend in a 20 mile radius. Wow. Life is crazy.
Don't get me wrong, I am pumped, thrilled, excited, anxious, can-hardly-wait to get to the beach. I NEED THIS. :) But I have a home a here, a real one.
Some of my friends are now going through some very grown-up things. Our parents and families are getting older, which means health problems and surgeries and possible cancers and recovery time in which our grown ups recover on our couches. The old switcheroo. It's a classic.
Careers decisions are very important now. It's still perfectly acceptable to work at In-n-Out Burger at age 25. But 26? We're becoming real adults, on the long [and I mean loooooong] trek to 30. Soon, we'll have mortgages and take vitamins and need glasses to read the instructions on our new household items.
Our conversations get more grown up, too. Our relationships have more meaning. What we are risking is real and actually means something in the big scheme of things. We discuss our weaknesses and trust each other with our heartaches and find comfort and strength in each other every step of the way.
Friends, I hate to say it as much as you hate to think it, we're getting old. I suppose it's not quite so bad knowing that also means we're on our way to better paying jobs and stable relationships and family vacations [b/c you're family now, in case you didn't know].
Let's raise a glass this Holiday Season to growing up, to starting to figure it out, to maturing and growing and loving each other, almost like grown ups. :)
Love you, friendos. Thinking of you and loving you wherever you are this minute. ღ
xo
Sarah :: Your Plucky Picaroon
xo
Sarah :: Your Plucky Picaroon
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In all of the upcoming holiday/grad school/moving craziness, it makes sense to set aside a particular time each day to be very intentionally thankful for these gifts and blessings and opportunities in our lives. Getting bogged down is easy enough. Griping may just be a guilty pleasure of mine and perhaps rephrasing those "gripes" into a more thankful light is just the thing to bring joy and love and light to this potentially stressful, hairy time. Maybe this will nip it in the bud?
That's a long explanation to say keep your eyes open for at least 22 days of Giving Thanks, right up to Thanksgiving Day. :)
22. Giving Thanks: I am incredibly lucky to have so many friends and so much life in my days that there is so little time for sleep. I'd rather be sleepy and loved than lonely and wide awake.
21. Giving Thanks: I am more than capable of paying my bills and living comfortably, and that is a luxury not given to everyone. No one in my house goes hungry or is cold at night. My income is a bigger blessing than I recognize most of the time. So thankful!
20. Giving Thanks: I am healthy! All of my body parts work and work well. I am strong and able and young. What a great way to live, right? Such a lucky girl.
19. Giving Thanks: I happen to know the cutest, fiestiest, bestest cat on the planet, Ralph. I cannot believe it's our one year anniversary already!!
18. Giving Thanks: My family may be a bit nutty but they're mine and I wouldn't have it any other way. I often feel like the most-loved girl on the planet thanks to them.
17. Giving Thanks: Every experience with a person who tests our mettle is an opportunity for growth, an opportunity to live our principles, and a chance to be the bigger person. These experiences are actually gifts, if you think about it.
16. Gripe: I have zero time to read [for pleasure] these days. It's killing me!!
16. Giving Thanks: Time I could spend reading thrift store finds and dime novels is spent in graduate level classes that will allow me to have that much more free time in my future for reading all of those clever words.
15. Gripe: I worry about making a good impression on certain people at certain times. My candid humor, sarcastic wit, and lack of filter are all primary issues in these circumstances. I'm a hazard to myself!
15. Giving Thanks: Gosh, I'm funny. Sometimes, I'm down right hilarious, if not always appropriate. I have a ton of people around me who know me and like me and care about me and aren't going anywhere if I make a dumb/bad taste/maybe mean joke now and then. These are people I should worry most about impressing and they already are impressed. :)
16. Giving Thanks: Time I could spend reading thrift store finds and dime novels is spent in graduate level classes that will allow me to have that much more free time in my future for reading all of those clever words.
15. Giving Thanks: Gosh, I'm funny. Sometimes, I'm down right hilarious, if not always appropriate. I have a ton of people around me who know me and like me and care about me and aren't going anywhere if I make a dumb/bad taste/maybe mean joke now and then. These are people I should worry most about impressing and they already are impressed. :)
14. Giving Thanks: I have been given talents and blessings and a great network of people. Everything will work out, even miracles like me figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.
13. Gripe: I have to work Saturdays. Uggggh.
13. Giving Thanks: I am blessed to work with wonderful people and to get to do something I really enjoy. :)
12. Gripe: I am so busy all the time. Is there never a moment when I can just have time to myself? To just be by myself??
12. Giving Thanks: I have the biggest, zaniest, loving grown up family that keeps me always on my toes. I love them and I am thankful we are given the chance to grow (and grow up) together. ღ
13. Giving Thanks: I am blessed to work with wonderful people and to get to do something I really enjoy. :)
12. Giving Thanks: I have the biggest, zaniest, loving grown up family that keeps me always on my toes. I love them and I am thankful we are given the chance to grow (and grow up) together. ღ
new follower! Good luck in grad school, UGH!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the words of encouragement! It's always nice to hear. :)
DeleteIs it weird/bad that I'm 26, have a mortgage, a car payment, a "big-kid" job, and thinking about babies and I don't consider myself "a grown up"? Haha. #littlekidatheart. I don't want to grow up! But, I do love this post. Let's just think about being grown-ups and maybe someday I'll consider acting like one. =)
ReplyDeleteLove this post. I feel old but at the same time, don't quite know what I want to be when I grow up. Just me, I guess.
ReplyDelete