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This afternoon all of a sudden the phrase “just like high school” popped into my head. It got me thinking and I have come to the conclusion that my life right now really is a lot like high school.
For a long time, I thought that I would never again in my life have a time like that. For me, it was filled with activities and accomplishments and time with friends. I kept a calendar that was so full of events that they were sometimes doubled up on each other. And yet it still seemed like I had time to kick back and watch movies, listen to the latest music, and stay up to date on Must See TV (before Tivo came along to make it a lot easier). I cherished my circle of friends and was always running here or there with them–confiding in them and sharing life with them.
When I went to college, it still felt a little like that, but there was definitely a lot more pressure. Financially life got tougher. A lot more was expected of me. In law school, I spent the majority of my waking moments studying so I didn’t embarrass myself when my Socratic method-teaching professor called me out for half an hour straight.
I got married 3 weeks after I graduated from law school and spent the next few months in a new city doing nothing but studying for the bar exam and working part time. Before I even passed the bar, I accepted my first “real” job and started working 70 hours a week to prove myself to my new employer. Six months later I was pregnant and building my first house.
For 10 years I had the feeling that life would never really be the same again. I wouldn’t have close girlfriends to giggle with over scary movies or take long lunches with. I was a mom with a business and responsibilities. I enjoyed my life, but I definitely looked back at high school as a “golden” era in my life that I would never recapture.
Today I am happy to say that I was wrong. Not only do I have that “high school” feeling but even better than that I have the life experience to not allow myself to make some of the same mistakes that I did back then. My calendar is still full, but it’s a balance of things I MUST do with things that I WANT to do. With every passing week my circle of friends grows and it is in large part because I have opened myself up to it. Whether I am laughing on Skype with an affiliate marketing friend, having a “couples” night with my husband and our friends, or even swooning over romantic leads while watching a matinee with my girlfriends, I finally feel like life is indeed “golden” again.
For sure there were some negatives to high school that have faded away from my memory with time. And life always has its drama. But for now I am going to be thankful for my lot because I know that just as with high school, there will be new phases on the horizon.
great post Tricia