On Making Changes…
Often times life throws changes at you. We all know this. We all respond to it differently. Some people throw themselves at each thing that comes along, forgetting the tasks that came before like so much litter on a trail. Some people freeze up with the thought of so many changes and so many decisions. Some people craft elaborate action plans, make lists, and prioritize. I fall into this latter category.
Why is the way I adjust to change important? Because in the last 6 months my life has thrown a lot of changes at me, and the next six months promises many, many more. The next 2 – 5 years will change my life utterly. Sound ominous? It could be. It could also be extremely valuable, fun, exciting, etc. I don’t wish to pontificate, but with the beginning of the New Year it is human nature, almost, to look towards the upcoming changes.
Let’s review: In the last 6 months I’ve finished grad school, started a new job, begun looking for a house to buy, gotten financing in order for said house, and had LASIK surgery to improve my eyesight (which went very well though I’m still adjusting.) At work alone there have been many changes. Without going into unnecessary detail, since I’ve started, my department has gained one employee and had 2 retire. One supervisor took a different job, and recently two more employees have switched to different jobs. One of the two retirees has come back part time as a contractor. That’s +1.5 and -5 in 6 months. Each time I think I have my feet under me in terms of who does what and what my responsibilities are, they change because of changing personnel. I love my job, but I’d like to make everyone promise to stay where they are for 6 months so I can get my feet under me. I know it won’t happen though as things are rather fluid at work.
Let’s project: In the next 6 months I will buy a house, move into said house, have to get home insurance, have to change my state of residency, have to change my car insurance, get a new driver’s license go through a bunch of different trainings to learn more about my job, pick up (and lose) job responsibilities, go on vacation to Canada, finish adjusting to my new eyesight (believe me, it is an adjustment), buy a motorcycle, begin remodel projects on new house, make a garden at new house, and possibly teach a class at the U (just one lecture as a guest speaker).
Make a list and check it twice: I’ve always been a list person. Making a list abd being able to check things off of it makes me a very happy person. I’m also a bit of a paradox. I am a major procrastinator, but I also like to do things WAY ahead of time. How do I do both? Why, I procrastinate on the smaller things and plan out the larger things. Or maybe it’s I procrastinate on the things I don’t want to do and plan out the fun things, like buying a house. As the list of changes infront and ahead of me grows, I do the things that I can do now and make lists on the others. I also create action plans – what do I have to do to get x done. Lately, so much has been going on I have to prioritize. I am almost more busy that I was in school, and I don’t even have real homework!
Life changes utterly: I feel as though I am finally growing up. In light of all of the above, I don’t feel like making resolutions this year…save one. I will complete the half marathon (running) and the training program I just signed up for. I have enough changes going on in my life otherwise, I need no other resolutions. I think, 2-5 years from now, I may not even recognize my life…I will still have the friends, the family, the job, if the changes keep coming as fast as they are now, whew! I’ll still be me, just in a completely different situation, and I’ve decided that’s a good thing, as long as I’m planning on it.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Major Life Change:
A major part of my life will change on Friday. For the first time since I was in second grade, and perhaps even before, I will be able to see without glasses. I will be having LASIK on Friday AM. I’m really really excited, but also a bit scared. After all, they are my eyeballs. I only have one set, and there are no returns or exchanges on this sort of thing. Still, the notion of waking up and being able to see without reaching for glasses or putting in my contacts has been a dream of mine for at least 5 years. I knew I was a good candidate for LASIK, just didn’t have the money. My reward for working 6 months (exactly today) at a full time job is a refurbished set of eyes.
So, if I see you this weekend, it will be truly seeing with my own eyes for the first time in years. Wish me luck, and if you can, send a bit of courage my way!
A major part of my life will change on Friday. For the first time since I was in second grade, and perhaps even before, I will be able to see without glasses. I will be having LASIK on Friday AM. I’m really really excited, but also a bit scared. After all, they are my eyeballs. I only have one set, and there are no returns or exchanges on this sort of thing. Still, the notion of waking up and being able to see without reaching for glasses or putting in my contacts has been a dream of mine for at least 5 years. I knew I was a good candidate for LASIK, just didn’t have the money. My reward for working 6 months (exactly today) at a full time job is a refurbished set of eyes.
So, if I see you this weekend, it will be truly seeing with my own eyes for the first time in years. Wish me luck, and if you can, send a bit of courage my way!
Friday, January 12, 2007
2007 Off and Running
It's 2007! How crazy is that?! Yes, I realize that 2007 follows directly on the heels of 2006, but it's the fact that we've made it this far. I remember back in grade school thinking fondly of how the world would be 'different' when it was 2000. Changing from 19XX to 20XX was an abstract concept at the time. Now we are '07. 7 years past that magical year from my past. Did anything particularly special happen in 2000? Not really. By the time 1999 had rolled around, the aura of mystique around the concept of a year 2000 had dissipated, left only with some computer folks wondering if their old equipment would handle the century/millennium change and a few crazies touting the end of the world. Seven years later, the world has not yet ended and computers are doing quite well.
Now that it is 2007, I look back on the year 2006 and realize how many significant events in my life happened. It was also a year of lifestyle changes. 2006 was the year I finally met and dated a man for longer than 1 month of 'serious' dating. 2006 was the first year I fell in love. 2006 was the first year that I could look ahead to the rest of my life, and not see school in it. It was the year I went to my field's national conference to present my research work. It was the last year I will be a full time student (in the foreseeable future), it was the year I received my Master's. It was the year I began my first full time job, that I didn't plan on leaving or going back to part time when school started...a job that I may have in some iteration for the next 40 years. And it was the year where I began to plan what the 'rest of my life' might look like.
There were ups and there were downs, and I would have to sit here awhile to come up with a good list. I am happy to say, however, that there were more ups that downs. Similar to the girl scout adage, I've met new friends, but kept the old...with a few unfortunate exceptions throughout the last few years, and learned some interesting life lessons in the process.
I've learned to be who I am. I am not who everyone wants me to be, and that's OK.
I've learned to let others be who they are, it is not my job to change them.
I've learned that when two peoples' paths go in different directions, even if they have walked side by side for many years, that it is better to point your feet down your own path and continue solo, remembering fondly the time you spent sharing the path. It's sad when the paths diverge, but new paths may merge with yours just around the corner.
I've learned that asking the 'stupid question' is many times the right thing to do...after all, if I have the question, someone else might too.
And I've learned that there is a time and a place to listen, and to ask questions, and to speak - though I'm still working on the implementation of this.
I've learned what love is. I love my family and always have and always will, but it is different - the love that grows from childhood - from the love that develops for another as an adult. It is, and is not, as easy as the storybooks say.
I've learned the value of quiet, of loud, of boisterous, and of calm.
I've learned to assess the situation before I get angry, and to look at things from more than the 'front' angle. There is often more to a situation, and often less. Some things are not worth my anger, or my joy. Some things just are.
I've learned not to fear the unknown, though a well placed whimper is not out of the question.
But most of all, I've learned to look fondly behind me and expectantly ahead of me as the events of 2007 begin to unfold.
I think it will be a good year. I plan to buy a house. I plan to be in the same job all year long. I plan to go visit my brother in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February. I plan to be active and take a more active roll in my health this year. I plan to be positive. I plan to be suprised (oxymoron, I know). I plan to enjoy myself, and I plan on having fun with family and friends.
It's 2007! How crazy is that?! Yes, I realize that 2007 follows directly on the heels of 2006, but it's the fact that we've made it this far. I remember back in grade school thinking fondly of how the world would be 'different' when it was 2000. Changing from 19XX to 20XX was an abstract concept at the time. Now we are '07. 7 years past that magical year from my past. Did anything particularly special happen in 2000? Not really. By the time 1999 had rolled around, the aura of mystique around the concept of a year 2000 had dissipated, left only with some computer folks wondering if their old equipment would handle the century/millennium change and a few crazies touting the end of the world. Seven years later, the world has not yet ended and computers are doing quite well.
Now that it is 2007, I look back on the year 2006 and realize how many significant events in my life happened. It was also a year of lifestyle changes. 2006 was the year I finally met and dated a man for longer than 1 month of 'serious' dating. 2006 was the first year I fell in love. 2006 was the first year that I could look ahead to the rest of my life, and not see school in it. It was the year I went to my field's national conference to present my research work. It was the last year I will be a full time student (in the foreseeable future), it was the year I received my Master's. It was the year I began my first full time job, that I didn't plan on leaving or going back to part time when school started...a job that I may have in some iteration for the next 40 years. And it was the year where I began to plan what the 'rest of my life' might look like.
There were ups and there were downs, and I would have to sit here awhile to come up with a good list. I am happy to say, however, that there were more ups that downs. Similar to the girl scout adage, I've met new friends, but kept the old...with a few unfortunate exceptions throughout the last few years, and learned some interesting life lessons in the process.
I've learned to be who I am. I am not who everyone wants me to be, and that's OK.
I've learned to let others be who they are, it is not my job to change them.
I've learned that when two peoples' paths go in different directions, even if they have walked side by side for many years, that it is better to point your feet down your own path and continue solo, remembering fondly the time you spent sharing the path. It's sad when the paths diverge, but new paths may merge with yours just around the corner.
I've learned that asking the 'stupid question' is many times the right thing to do...after all, if I have the question, someone else might too.
And I've learned that there is a time and a place to listen, and to ask questions, and to speak - though I'm still working on the implementation of this.
I've learned what love is. I love my family and always have and always will, but it is different - the love that grows from childhood - from the love that develops for another as an adult. It is, and is not, as easy as the storybooks say.
I've learned the value of quiet, of loud, of boisterous, and of calm.
I've learned to assess the situation before I get angry, and to look at things from more than the 'front' angle. There is often more to a situation, and often less. Some things are not worth my anger, or my joy. Some things just are.
I've learned not to fear the unknown, though a well placed whimper is not out of the question.
But most of all, I've learned to look fondly behind me and expectantly ahead of me as the events of 2007 begin to unfold.
I think it will be a good year. I plan to buy a house. I plan to be in the same job all year long. I plan to go visit my brother in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February. I plan to be active and take a more active roll in my health this year. I plan to be positive. I plan to be suprised (oxymoron, I know). I plan to enjoy myself, and I plan on having fun with family and friends.
