*Working 40-50 hours a week at a difficult job
*Getting engaged : ) : ) : ) : ) : )
* Planning for a wedding
*Saving every penny for the aforementioned wedding
*Preparing my life/career path for the future
*Readying myself to re-enter school
I know...I know...excuses are lame!! But what can I say? I really have been one busy lady. On a side note I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams. Jon and I are soo psyched to wed next year, March, 17 2012!!! As of now, we have an incredible venue, a definite date, a semi-permanent guest list, and a possible wedding dress. We're trucking along just fine together and not losing sight of the most important aspect of the wedding---the fact that we are marrying each other : )
I'm so happy with the place my life is in now---I'm completley and totally blessed in my love life, with the love of an awesome, compassionate family, and with the great amount of love and respect I have for myself. Yet, today I was forced to reflect on a time, within my life, when things I was not as blessed.
Today, my memory was jarred back to my late teenage years. At eighteen years old, I had already moved out of my parents home and into my own townhome, I drove a nice SUV, and I was working a job full time, earning much of my own money. A life like that, blessed with so many material blessings, can often lead a young person to believe they have it all "figured out." And I was certainly no exception to the rule. Looking back on that time, I feel like I often forgot the people who always seemed to be there from me---my family and true friends. It often never occurred to me that my supportive family were the main reason I had many of the things I did.
I would love to sugar-coat my old self and say that I was going through a "phase" or "still figuring myself out"....but the truth is that I was just plain selfish. I, like most eighteen year old teens, was always number one in my own mind.
There is a country song that is called "If I Could Write a Letter To Me." It regards an adult man wanting to prepare his teenage self for all the challenges and life-lessons he will certainly face. Whenever I hear the lyrics I always think: "ah what a beautiful concept...I wish I could've told myself so many things back then!!"
Almost everyone goes through things that they would sooner like to forget as they mature. I realize that making mistakes is a learning process. My advice ,then, is clearly not to make mistakes--- but to listen to the wise advice of others who may in fact know "better." When I think of all the good advice, the life-lessons, the insightful quotes I ignored from my parents...I have to roll my eyes in horror.
Consider the source of your information and hear what people who love you are saying. If you never leave your teenage,ignorant habits BEHIND.....then you'll never BEGIN your adult,receptive life.
