Just Catching Up
Happy Friday, everyone. Yes, I know, it’s been a while. To my loyal readers, my apologies. To the rest of you, well, whatever. Just kidding. Welcome.
Who am I catching up with? You all? Or myself? Truth is, life has been a bit jam-packed recently, with work and school and marathon training. As I’ve written here in the past, I am most comfortable and productive when I am busy, but this has been a whole new level.
I like this blog as an outlet for the trials of finding myself in a big city, but I need to be here, with you all, more often. Perhaps shorter, more frequent installments? Pardon my thinking aloud. I’ve found it hard to take the time to do the unnecessary things among the necessary ones (not as though running a marathon is necessary, but I am far enough into it now to consider each training run mentally and physically necessary). Is this blog unnecessary? Totally. But it’s also helpful, so maybe it is necessary. Anyway…
This is an interesting time for people my age. (And by my age, I will be 25 in about a month, which makes me want to vomit.) So many friends who I stay in touch with have been considering major life changes—career shifts, going back to school, moving to a new city, etc. Perhaps we are all feeling a little bit hammered down by the go-go-go of young life, the expectations of decision and comfort and freedom. Maybe we’ve found that when we become busy, we are busy with the wrong things.
By “we” here, I am making a generalization. I am actually quite pleased with the things keeping me busy. My classes have been fulfilling, work has been picking up in a good way, and I’ve run longer than I’ve ever run before, making me feel like a sweaty superhero. But as a general cohort, we’re worried. We’re worried about settling into a life that isn’t what we want but is easy. We’re worried about missing out on opportunities that later life will not afford us. We’re worried about whether or not we’ll have a healthy planet to raise kids on (or at least, we all should be worried about it—go buy Patagonia or something). And oftentimes, worry takes the place of action. I’m not always the best at practicing what I preach, but here I am to say: time to take inventory of your happiness, people!
To play with my new potential production schedule, I will keep this short. Navigating your 20s definitely takes place in the fast lane, but some of us aren’t yet the best drivers. Being busy is great, but make sure to constantly ask yourself: am I happy to be busy in this way? Interview yourself with the common groan-inducing question: where do I see myself in 5 years? If it’s right where you are, then congrats. Though I’d wager it’s not.
I’ll sign off now, hoping that I’ve left my audience something to think about over the weekend. To all of you who are better Jews than I am, l’shanah tovah.