Catch-24

after an entire day of Sex & the City reruns, here's where my mind has wandered. sorry it's a book, but there's just something about being young and single in the city...

For those of you like me who are young and on your own, you know how stressful it can be. You work hard all week and you stress about whether or not it's even the right place for you to be. You stress about your bills and how to budget your money. You wonder how much job security you really have (more stress!) And to top it all off, you're totally in a quarter-life crisis, wondering how the hell you ended up where you are, if you've really got yourself all figured out, and where the hell your life is going anyway! AHHH! This is especially compounded by working in an entire world of people older than you, who all expect you to act a certain way and do certain things, even though you still haven't decided whether or not you WANT to act that way or what things you want to do.

This is a lot to handle when you're completely on your own with no family around. And it's in these times that you realize how valuable your family is and you have learned to value every minute that you get to spend with them. And you also realize that time is precious anyway, because being away from your family makes you notice the ways they've aged since you last saw them, which reminds you that everyone is getting older and life is changing, and that memories are inherently pieces of the past and are meant to stay there.

Then, being in a new area without the security of where you grew up, you realize that no one is like you. No one came from where you came from and has the same life experiences that you have. Everyone has lived a very different version of life, and usually it's very hard to try to relate to the version of life that they've lived or the way they think as a result. Sometimes, though, you get lucky and find other people coming from a place like you did and living a similar life to what you're living now that think a lot like you do. And, those friends are priceless, and you know you'd be completely lost without them.

Then there's the issue of being single. Actually, though, it is really all about people in general and not just the opposite sex. Since the world is so diverse and everyone has such different life perspectives, it seems so hard to meet the people you want to meet. You know work is just a bad idea all around. So, you go out with your friends, who really seem to be more of aquaintances when you really look at the relationships, and you have a good time. Maybe you meet boys. You exchange numbers. Even if they call, you know that the drunk boy that hit on you will never be the one you take home to Mom. And you haven't figured out yet where else to meet people. Plus, you have standards for the people around you. And shouldn't you? It's just amazing how different people are than what you thought they'd be.

Now, I'm not saying there aren't good things about this lifestyle. There will always be something ridiculously gratifying about getting up every day and knowing that your life is exactly that: your life! You built it, you're responsible for it, and no one can ever take that away from you. And because it's yours, you get to change it anytime you want. You get to be in completely deep and retrospective moods, write blogs about it, and then realize that you're still young, you have a lot going for you, and you still have plenty of time to make your life the best it can possibly be. You may not yet have figured out exactly how, but you also know that the craziness of it all and the constant possibility of a new adventure along the way somehow keeps you going. And you also know that there is some destination for you, even if you don't know what it is. And whether you're ready or not and whether you've analyzed, overanalyzed, or just let it be, life moves on, the stress moves on, and even the fun moves on. and your life can only be better for all of the things you've gone through and learned along the way.