This December I graduated. This December I was thrown full force into the world of being an adult. Christmas and New Year's helped soften the blow. But, as many of my friends are realizing, we are adults now. The fact that I wear office attire more often than I wear sweat pants is probably a sign that carefree days are probably over. But sometimes, I just don’t want to do this adult thing right now.
My friends and I were so excited to graduate. However in the back of my mind, I wondered what I was going to do next. It has only been a month, and the slow, monotonous pace of being an adult is testing my patience. My life seems to be a on a slower pace than the rest of the world. I have days that are just filled with cleaning the apartment. Am I supposed to feel satisfaction in a clean house? Because I am not sure I do. Also, I am uneasy about the structure of adult life. I have been in school since I was four-years-old. Semesters and breaks have been the structure of my life. And now, that just disappears. It’s just work now. No spring breaks. No summer vacation. It's just my life now. Nothing but holidays to divide up the year. When you are a student, it seems to be a defining fact of who you are. Graduation serves as an ultimate goal for at least four years. Now, student is no longer an accurate adjective to describe me. I have to redetermine what my ultimate goal is. And frankly that seems like a lot of work. But then again when I think about it, I remember that I am not doing assignments that I feel are useless aides to my education. I didn’t drop a large sum on textbooks this semester. I come home from work and can feel no guilt watching Netflix because I don’t have an assignment due the next morning. I pick what books I want to read because I have the time. I select the art projects I work on. I have creative freedom. So maybe, between the uncertainty of the future and responsibilities of being an adult, there may be a few perks. I may actually grow to like being an adult.
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By Marie Bombeck
2016 is now in the works. We are in the second full week. For me personally, 2016 has a lot to live up to. Last year was an eventful one, full of transitions and changes. I married the love of my life. Then two weeks into our marriage, our new little family doubled, with cats, that is. We found two little kittens that needed our help and stole our hearts away with one meow. Besides that, my parents moved away from my childhood home and relocated towns. My baby sister graduated high school. My middle sister entered a new stage of her college career and moved back to Nebraska. So as I enter the New Year, my life is strangely calm. Beside my part-time job and searching for a new job and new apartment, I can focus on me. I am not wedding planning. I am not packing up my childhood in boxes. There is not any homework to complete. The juggling act that was my life has a few less objects to juggle. There are days that I have absolutely no commitments. I have the opportunity to catch my breath. As cheesy as it may be, I started to reflect on my life. One question seemed to resurface in my thoughts: What’s next? At my college graduation party the question was asked by my family and friends. Honestly, I don’t know. It seems that after graduations, I never have it planned out. Let’s back track a few years to high school graduation day. At that party, the same question was asked. I knew part of the answer, college, but where? I had no clue. I had it narrowed down between two schools. But I had absolutely no idea which one to choose. So I broke out all the usual methods to make a big decision such as the pros and cons list. I visited the towns of the colleges one more time. I may have even flipped a coin. Finally, I made my decision two weeks later. Little did I know, it would lead to a whole chain of reactions of awesome things in my life that now I couldn't live without. I met my very best friends that have helped me through more than I can ever thank. I met the man I now call my husband because he happened to be in the cafeteria freshman year eating alone (that may be a story for a later day.) If I was in school in a different state, I never would have met him. So what’s next for 2016? Maybe I am a bit naïve, but I think there is time to figure that out. There is never a time in your life, or at least I sincerely hope not, that you are not growing or transitioning into something new. If I rush to make big decisions, I could miss out on something extraordinary. So let 2016 take its course. Take the time to stop and reflect. Take a moment to breathe and enjoy your life right where it is. Enter this New Year with an open heart and an open mind. Sometimes when we are too focused on what’s next, we miss what could be. Let life take you where you need to be this year. |
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