I’m hoping to write a longer, more in depth post on this topic soon, but as a teaser for that…
Do you ever think about the roads or paths you have traveled to get where you are today? I find myself looking back, sometimes, and honestly wondering how on earth I landed in this life. I love my life – this is not a post lamenting lost opportunities! But it is most definitely NOT the life I envisioned for myself in high school, college, or even graduate school (the first time around).
I tend to think about my life as a winding road, one that also includes a lot of small hills and larger (mini) mountains. Have I had a difficult life? Definitely not. Have there been challenges along the way? Absolutely. Have I made choices that, in hindsight, I probably would not have made if I could do it all again? 100%.
I have a strong suspicion that this is the case for many – if not all – people. I would be shocked if I came across someone who had planned out their life in, say, high school, and then followed that path throughout their life.
So, with all that said, I’m going to leave you with this quote I love from Andrew Anabi (who writes an infrequent but lovely Substack newsletter):
“When life changes, you will probably miss the way it was. You may miss those long morning drives or walks to the office, or those hectic family gatherings. You may miss them because those moments are finite — you will only travel those streets and see those people a certain amount of times.”
Happy Monday, everyone. I know, I’m still posting daily. I am bound and determined to do 30 days in a row, since I was not aligned with the official NaBloPoMo endeavor. Feel free to ignore me. 🙂
Oh, I think about this all the time. What if I’d gone to a different school? Or picked a different job? Or not dated my husband? But it all works out in the end and I’m happy with where I am, so it feels like the choices I made were the right ones. But maybe I could have more money. Or more dogs.
Exactly. It’s interesting and fun – in a way – to think about alternative lives. At least I find it interesting. I love movies like Sliding Doors, and books with dual timelines (there’s a Taylor Jenkins Reid book that had one and it was my favorite of the few of hers I’ve read…). I think it’s because my life could have been very VERY different if just a few things had shifted slightly. Fascinating to think about. At least I think so!
I can’t wait for the longer post, and I like the Reader’s Digest version here to think about. If I just state the facts: degree in one thing, first career in something else, second career in another thing, later got the degree to back it up, 10 years later I’m bored with second career, ready to stop working, now ask me about my hobbies and we’ll go in 20 more different directions. It all sounds pretty bonkers but all I did was trudge along the road that opened up before me.
Oh, the short snippet of your life and the bends in the road you’ve traveled are so interesting, Birchie! I would love to see a similar post from you. Mine won’t happen today – lots to do, unfortunately – but it’s something I do think about regularly. Do you think you will do some educational courses for fun when you retire from the current boring job? Maybe something in photography?
Oh, that passage made me cry. I cry very easily anyway, but since both of my parents are gone, and back in May my dog died from Lymphoma, and I’m really struggling with that loss. Poignant and beautiful.
I think it’s exceptionally poignant, too. And there are so many points in time that I wish I could return to, one more time. I have revisited some of my favorite locations, but they’re not the same without the same experience and/or company as before. And yes, I think about this with my parents, too – what if *this morning* is the last morning that I talk to both of them on the phone? It makes me a bit more aware of how I’m interacting with them, for sure.
It is really so interesting and a little poignant to take a look back at some of those turning point decisions that meant choosing one path over another.
And sometimes, I look back and I realize it wasn’t a choice I could make. The choice was made for me. Not that that is a bad thing, but it does happen.
I think about this all the time! I took so many roads to get where I was, and who knew I’d end up here? Certainly not me! So many choices in life, and so many journeys.
So many journeys, indeed, and sometimes what seems to be the most minor decision makes a huge impact on our path forward from there.
Oh, I think about this all the time… I think that’s why I also have a bit of a hard time with “change”. It’s not that I don’t want to see/experience new things, but I also ALWAYS miss places and people from the past. Sigh. I just heard that there will be a reunion of the “sports department” of my old college in Germany and I wish I could go. So many people I remember (and lost touch with).
P.S. I will not ignore you, thankyouverymuch. 😉
Yes! I was meeting with someone yesterday and they are going to visit a place I lived over 20 years ago. And I am SO nostalgic about that place and that time in my life. So very, very different from my life now. That’s both a good and a bad thing.
I wish you could go to your reunion, San. When will we be able to apparate? Someone needs to get on that…
I think about this ALL THE TIME. And sometimes I think: Am I living a different life in an alternate reality? Is there a life where I got married young and have a house full of kids? (Shudder.) Is there a life where I kept working toward an education degree and became a teacher? Is there a life where I came out earlier? So many things to think about!
THIS! I wondered what you would think about this post, Stephany. I think those of us who are not currently partnered and who don’t have kids often wonder, what if? That was a huge turn in the path my life has taken, for sure. (Was confident I wanted kids until… I wasn’t anymore.) It’s interesting to speculate, but then again, there’s the question of how am I doing living the life I have now? Am I making it the best it can be? Ponder, ponder…