This Kind Of Life

“Like many others I know of my generation, I was raised by parents who encouraged me to think that I had all the choices in the world, and all the time in the world to make them. We spent years being told that we could do anything, be anything – even our liberal arts curriculums let us play around in various fields for years before choosing a major, if we ever had to at all.

And that’s great. It is, it’s a wonderful thing – a privilege - to feel that you can do anything…but it also makes it really hard to finally choose what you want to do. Why should I marry this amazing guy when I’ve never even been to Asia yet? My even-more-perfect man might be waiting there for me. Why should I accept this pretty cool job offer when I haven’t even tested the waters in these five other career paths? I might like something else better. Why should I move to this one town, when there are so many other places in the world that might make the perfect home?

So I’ve found it very hard to make this leap. Because this enormous step – buying a house – is an incredible thing, an incredible opportunity…but it also shuts down so many other possibilities. We won’t be moving to Italy anytime soon. And of course we were never going to – of course we weren’t – but it was nice to think that maybe, just maybe, we might. We could. And if we make this decision…well, we can’t. Not for awhile, anyway.

But sometimes you need to just put on your Grownup Pants and decide, already. Weigh the pros and cons, figure out what’s important to you, argue with yourself to pieces…but then do it. Jump.”

Nicely said.

[via ramshackleglam]