Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Reflections on Life

My co-worker and her twin just turned twenty-six.  They are young and care-free and I’m a little bit jealous.  They were born just after I graduated high school which means that I’ve been out of high school for twenty-six years!!  How the heck did that happen?  I have lived through so much since then – marriage, two kids, divorce, a few good and not so good jobs – yet I feel like it was just yesterday that I was graduating and looking at a long life ahead of me.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to go back to that time.  The experiences that I have lived through since that time have made me who I am today and (for the most part) I rather like who I am today.    I am far more confident, knowledgeable and (hopefully) wise. 

Looking back, I do have regrets, like most people. 

I wish that I had continued my education and that I hadn’t stuck with the “safe” business classes.  I could have had a career that excited me instead of sitting at a desk.  I could have been digging up fossils in Peru right now!  On the plus side, I do have a regular paycheque hitting my bank account every week like clock-work and that is something to be grateful for.  So many people don’t have that.

Of course, if I had gone for a different career path, I may never have met my ex-husband and I would not have my two wonderful kids.  Despite my less than perfect parenting, they have grown into two strong, healthy, intelligent, well-balanced people.  That being said, although they are no more perfect than I am,  I not only love them but I LIKE them as people as well.  That counts for a lot.

With the various twists and turns that my life has taken, people have come and gone.  Some of them were around only for a short while and rightfully so.  When someone stops enriching your life, you know that their purpose in your life is over.  There are those, however, that I do regret losing touch with and who I think could/should have been in my life longer.  That is one thing that I am trying to teach my kids.  If somebody makes your life better, be sure to nurture that relationship.  Don’t let go of a good friendship before its “expiry date” out of laziness or because you take it for granted that the person isn’t going anywhere.

All in all, I really don’t mind being where I am.  There may be a few regrets and “what if’s” but I have also made some pretty good choices too.

It’s amazing how somebody else’s birthday can make you think about your own life.  It makes me wish that I had appreciated my twenties a little bit more.  As they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
 
That's the bday girl in the middle (I love my coworkers!)
 
 
Kat

4 comments:

  1. Great post. We should all take a moment to reflect on the paths of our lives. It s always crazy to think back on the journey.

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    1. Oh I know, the things that we've seen and done.....

      They make us who we are

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  2. Have you ever read those "choose your own ending" books? Basically, you read the story and them you make a choice. If you choose path A, you turn to page 37. If you choose path B, then you go to page 49. When I used to read those, I wanted to know what happened BOTH ways, so I would mark the decision point and read through the first choice and then go back and see what would have happened if I'd gone the other way. I really wish I could do that in life. I'm happy where I am and I wouldn't want to give up my life for a new one, but where would I be if I had gone to a different school, or picked a different major or moved to a new city?

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    1. It's an intriguing idea but, in a way, I'm kind of glad that we can't do it in real life. We'd only choose the "happy" outcomes and that would make us all pretty "vanilla". We learn more from the bad ones.

      I love the idea for a book though! I've often gotten to the end of a book and wondered what might have happened if the character had done "this" instead of "that".

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