Resolutions and Realizations

The New Year is just weeks away and I have no idea where 2013 has gone. This year has given me so many blessings. I got into a relationship, retired from competitive golf after nearly 18 years, graduated from college and got a job.

This has easily been the scariest/most exciting year of my life. There have been ups and downs and realizations and rude awakenings. This year has metaphorically dumped everything in my lap and said, "deal with it".

I've always been a proponent of chasing a challenge -- whether it was the guy who didn't call back or a ridiculously niche career path. While I absolutely still insist on feeding my soul with people I love and things that make me happy, I've lost some of that idealism.

I've learned that it's a good thing that guy never called back, because even if he did, you'd be the one chasing him throughout the entire relationship. And while getting that dream job in Manhattan would be great, the reality is, you're going to start out in the mailroom and still have to pay your $2,500 share of the jail cell you rent with your creepy Craigslist roommate.

I'm not saying it can't be done. However, I've come to realize that we have this invisible pressure to have it ALL figured out in our 20's...and I'm here to tell you that it's bullsh*t. I burn cut-and-bake cookies EVERY TIME, saving any kind of money is still a novel concept and I consider the day a success if my bra and underwear match. I still cry to my mom with my first world problems and I'm terrified at the thought of marriage and babies and of ever growing up.

Before I graduated, I thought I had my life all figured out -- I was going to move to New York and be a successful magazine editor where my sassy gay best friend would set me up with my McDreamy and we'd all live happily ever after.

Except, life throws curveballs right when you have everything "figured out". My sassy gay best friend DID set me up with McDreamy (much to his dismay). But my McDreamy has faults, just like everyone else. He's stubborn, eats those disgusting frozen pizzas, has holes in his boxers, throws temper tantrums when Alabama loses and has watched the Fast and Furious movies more times than I care to admit.

That cushy job ended up being at an industrial magazine in Birmingham where I'm challenged to constantly push myself and learn new things. I know next to nothing about engineering, so writing about it has been a huge hurtle to overcome. And you know what? I'm a better journalist for it.

I'm not saying that dreams don't come true. What I AM saying is that everything works out the way it's supposed to. Life doesn't always happen the way you picture it, but sometimes it turns out even better. How we deal with life's curveballs is what defines us. Here's to 2014 and everything -- both good and bad -- that it will bring us.