The rest is yet to come

Why is it that it takes until you're 22-years-old to finally admit that you're growing up? I suppose it's part of the growing-up process, yes?

My job is teaching me a lot. I have days when I think I'm on top of the world and I have days when I can barely keep up. Sometimes I love the running around like a crazy person, yet some days I just want to sit in my office and hide. No matter what is happening, I'm learning more and more about myself and the world every day. And this is what I was looking forward to when I graduated.

I have to say the favorite part of my job is the people I'm meeting. Not just every month, but literally every WEEK. Sometimes for days in a row. I consider myself extremely lucky because the people I meet are much like me. As mentioned in my previous post, I'm meeting people who are motivated and positive thinkers. These are people with which I want to surround myself. Knowing some of these people gives me hope that one of my biggest fears will never come true: getting too comfortable to take a risk.

A lady I trained yesterday told me "if you're smart, you'll move where your job takes you." She had just finished telling me about the journey she and her husband had taken through life. They lived in multiple cities, made great friends in every one, and retired to Florida where they still do so much traveling, they're not even home most of the month. Immediately after chatting with her, I got a chance to chat with someone else I met before and learned about her exciting career path that is long from over. Both of these women are likely older than my mother (who is NOT old, for the record) and are far from leading sedentary lives. In fact, as an intern in college, I met another woman exactly like this. I remember thinking to myself, "Wow. I want to be JUST like her!" And these people inspire me over and over again.

My latest inspiration is my writing. Well, not MY writing, just writing in general. I'm realizing that I LOVE it. I can't get enough of it. Even though I'm completely swamped at work, I'm constantly telling the newspaper to send me more assignments. And this week it hit me: maybe I should be working toward becoming a writer full-time.

Now, no rash decisions have been made yet. I do enjoy my full-time job and see the obvious benefits of being able to pay bills with that income. However, in my free-time, I'm taking the steps to become a freelance writer. I'm starting small with my first client right now, but I'm researching ways to grow my portfolio. There are tons of jobs out there for freelance writers, it's just a matter of me being brave enough to say "here I am, World!"

And that's what I mean about my biggest fear. I don't ever want to be comfortable enough to not put myself out there. I want to keep challenging myself and make some mistakes along the way. I want to be able to tell my story one day with the phrase "I had no idea X would lead to Z later on, but I'm glad I took the chance." I suppose I've done that already, with buying a plane ticket on a whim and moving 1,000 miles away. Honestly though, that's not enough for this girl. I want to keep moving and keep seeing things. I want to keep meeting people and making connections. I want to live my life to the fullest, and for me, seriously pursuing a profession in writing might be the key.

So what's next? Building up my portfolio with more freelancing opportunities and researching what grad school could do for my career. And at some point, maybe a new place to blog about.