"Where you are is where you're supposed to be"

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted. I have now been a college graduate for two months and 12 days. Though I was not able to travel the world like I have done the past two summers (and what my best friend got to do this summer), I do believe it has been one of the most eventful and life-changing summers I have had to date. This fact is particularly seen in my updated list of completed tasks:

--Job applications Completed: once again, a lot
--Interviews, both real and otherwise: 10
--Number of Headaches Formed, Upset Stomachs, Tears Cried, etc: infinity plus one
--Number of music camps taught/assisted: 5
--Private lessons taught: very very many, and always with very different outcomes
--Number of job offers: 3 (I’m counting the last one even though it was only sort of an offer…whatever, it was an offer!)
--Number of job acceptances: 1 very very big one ☺
--Apartments in the greater Dayton area viewed: 10-ish
--Apartments leased: 1 (yay!)
--Number of friends returned from very long overseas adventures: 1 very important best friend ☺

Yes, I ended up accepting the job at the Dayton charter school. I fretted over the issue for almost two weeks. I made a list of pros and cons, I worried about whether the pros and cons on said list were viable, I asked countless people for advice, and I researched as much as I could (and probably more than I should have). But in the end, it suddenly hit me: I have a decent job offer during the worst economic periods our generation has witnessed. It doesn’t matter if this isn’t the best job in the world – it’s only my first job, and it will be a valuable experience no matter what the outcome. I keep forgetting that this first job doesn’t have to be the be-all-end-all. It just has to be my present state of being. Every chapter in my life is full of growth, discovery, happiness, sadness, uncertainty, satisfaction, and triumph. My college chapter gave me all of this, and though the ending was quite bittersweet it is still a part of my story that I will remember fondly. My new job is simply the next chapter, full of experiences I have not yet reached. I do not know how this chapter will resolve, but I do know that it will bring my life story to new heights, which can never be a negative thing.

In the harried state I’ve been in as of late, I kind of started to forget how reassuring it is to have a wise best friend with whom to share your ponderings. During my much-needed walk with Sam the other night, I started sharing my thoughts on my new job. I explained my fears, trepidations, and uncertainties in many ways, until finally I simply said, “What if this isn’t where I’m supposed to be?” Sam just shook his head and replied, “Where you are is where you’re supposed to be.” That was all he said, and that was all he (or anyone) needed to say. I can try and create life philosophies until I’m blue in the face, but I forget that sometimes the hardest questions can be combated with the simplest and purest of answers. Thank God for best friends to remind me of this incredibly important fact.