Posts Tagged "real life"
But everybody’s doing it!
Sometimes when I think about what my friends have done in our short time being alive, I get a little sad and slightly insecure about my own accomplishments.
I have friends who are well into creating a name for themselves in their chosen careers, traipsing around the world on awe inducing travels [one of which has included the Galapagos Island!], buying homes, getting married and having kids, living on their own…all things I wish I could be doing right now.
It just seems like I’ve always been a bit of a late bloomer. While my friends were off having boyfriends in high school [well, except for my bestie], I was too busy being oblivious to just how dorky I actually was. And by being star-struck by all the crushes I had but never acted on. That trend continued well into college, as your intrepid protagonist didn’t score a date until her senior year. I know!
But right when I felt I had caught up, at that junction in which college life ended and real life began, I found myself right back in the dust. This time instead of starting off in a brand new spanking job, I went home and scrambled for something, anything I could get. Then my friends started getting married, having kids, traveling and living abroad. They all had really cool stories and memories and pictures to share of their adventures and well, I was just living at home, getting into arguments with my parents over how I wanted to live my life.
Apparently instead of doing the real awesome adult things, I was doing the teenaged high school things I was supposed to have done in high school. There I was, still as late as ever.
Then, it seems I somehow slightly caught up: I stumbled into a great and fulfilling and promising relationship and I scored a job in my dream industry. I had money to do a little traveling and there I was, almost doing the things everyone else was doing. Life was great.
Until I lost my job.
Now I’m back at home, looking at what everyone is doing and desperately trying to not desperately want what they have. I’m genuinely happy for my friends but it would be so nice to actually be doing the same things they’re doing at the same time. I’m tired of being late to the party.
I worry about what it looks living at home when I’m practically knocking on the door of my thirties without a job and without much else. I know I’m incredibly blessed to have a mom who doesn’t put any pressure on me [other than the rare kind of subtle pressure that only Asian mothers can employ - which is to say, it's not THAT subtle] to get a job but I’m an adult. I should be in my own house. I should be taking care of someone other than myself. I should be able to do something! I don’t want to be lame! Which only leads to more panicked hyperventilating because, I’m almost 30 and will probably be getting married soon. And if I’m already practically 30, I shouldn’t wait too long to have kids. But if we have kids now, when am I going to get to travel? WHAT IF ITALY AND EGYPT DISAPPEARS BEFORE I GET TO GO?!
These moods pass, sometimes not as quickly as others, because underneath it all, I have to remember that life is not a competition, no matter how I try to make it to be. It’s not about having the best or doing the most first, its about experiencing what comes along our path at that time. Yes I’m still overall very happy with my life. I’ve done some amazing things myself: I’ve road tripped to Florida and went to a spring training baseball game, I’ve got to kiss the Stanley Cup and pose with the World Series trophy, I’ve attended a MLB All-Star Game, met a handful of athletes, participated in a massive snow ball fight, stuck gum on a wall in Seattle, almost broke my butt snowboarding, saw some seals while surfing, skipped class to go to a Real World audition, ran in a 5k, got my MBA…hell, I even had a fan club! I lived a pretty good life.
Most importantly, I do not regret the life choices that I’ve made for myself [aside from some horrible wardrobe decisions but that's a given]. I did things that I thought were good for me and my career and you know what? It was worth it. Sure I don’t exactly have everything that everyone else has at this moment, but I will one day, and when I do, I will cherish every moment of it.
There is still plenty of time to get a chunk done in my bucket list [which I think I might post about - you should see some of the random things I have on there] and even if I don’t get them done, I will know that I still lived a wonderful life.
Read MoreOutside my box
Last night, while who knows how many people sat around to find out where a self-absorbed multi-millionaire was going to play next season:
He’ll be in Miami – in case you were wondering
[source]
The country continues to fight a war in another nation, sending scores of men and women home emotionally and physically broken:
[source]
People are still losing their jobs and finding it hard to find work. And the Senate still hasn’t come to an agreement on the Federal Extended Unemployment Benefits so millions of people who are on extended benefits are not receiving ANY money for the foreseeable future [in case you're wondering, I'm on my 3rd week with no check yet still have bills to pay. Including my COBRA so I can still see the doctor].
[source]
Oil continue to spill into the Gulf:
[source]
And a former white BART police officer, with a history of cover ups, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of an unarmed black BART passenger on New Years Day in 2009. A passenger that was restrained, on his stomach, and held down by other officers.A mother lost her son, a daughter lost her father, and hundreds of people lost the little hope they had left in a system they feel let them down again. The incident resonated with many people simply because this easily could have been them.
And a city that is only 30 minutes away, where friends and family live, that has been wrecked with negative press, remains on edge following the verdict.
[this series of photos from SF Gate]
So excuse me as I did not fall prey to the sensationalism that was the “LeBron Decision.” As I have made my living peddling sport and plan to do so again in the future, trust me when I say it’s a business and there are other, more important things to be worried about. It’s an odd story of two twenty-somethings. One on top of the sports world with a free agent decision special never seen before and other who lost his life two years ago in a tragedy that could have been prevented. Why do we care more about the former than the latter?
Let’s keep things in the right perspective.
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