- ABBA (coincidentally, Martin Luther King Jr. also said something along those same lines)
I can't honestly recall what, as a child, I thought my life would be like when I was in my early twenties. Did I think I would be successful? Did I think I would have gotten a good education that would lead to a rewarding career? Did I think I'd be married and have babies by now? Did I even think about "what will life be like in 10 years"?
I do distinctly remember back at the turn of the century (yes, the 22nd century) everyone asking us kids what they thought would happen in 10 years, 2010. The majority pretty much said flying cars, and I was probably guilty of making that same suggestion. Obviously that didn't happen. (But why didn't we think self-driving cars were feasible??)
Anyway, my point is that I'm not sure I ever really had a "plan" for my life, or a vision of how I thought it would go. I always figured I'd go to university because that's what everyone else was doing. (Now I have a bachelor's.) Despite a few months where I thought I was destined to be an old cat lady, I always did want to get married. (Get a husband, check!) And it's obvious that I would strive to have a good job, whether you want to call it a career or not. (Library technicians ftw.)
But even though I sort of half-expected all of that stuff, most of what is now a part of my life came in a most unexpected way. Meeting someone on the internet who you would later marry? Getting a job without any of the necessary education simply because you were willing to try? Becoming best friends with someone who would eventually help you publish your first book?
All of that is so crazy that it certainly belongs in a book. It feels surreal to say that all of those things are about me, but it's true. I almost can't handle it. I mean... where do I even go from there? Everything is already just so... perfect.
Of course, nothing is really perfect. By the time I get bored of seeing my first book, I'll be ready to publish my second one. Gina will always have things to read and edit for me. Eli will always remain my number one source for love and affection and there isn't a thing I would change about that.
I guess all I'm really saying is that life is absolutely unexpected. Things always seem to work out, but never the way I necessarily want them too. For example, I never really wanted to go to university, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met some of my best friends, including Gina and Eli. I never would have gotten to the point with my writing where I could actually publish something. And that means more to me and any degree I could ever hold. Period.
I just know that sometimes I'll have to refer back to this particular blog post when something is not going my way, just to remind myself that it'll work out in the end. Because it always kind of does.
I'll cross the stream. I have a dream.
