It seems I am in the writing mood tonight, and as that happens so rarely these days, I decided it would behoove me to make this blog post. After all, I’m way behind on my Mother’s Day quota. Liz has been very kind about not nagging me to post something, though every now and then I think I could use a good nagging to help keep me focused. But that’s beside the point.
As I was saying, since I’m in the mood to write, write I shall!
As any faithful reader of this blog is sure to know, our little family has just made a drastic change of lifestyle in the hopes of making another drastic change of lifestyle in a couple of years. All these drastic changes got me to thinking about all the other drastic changes in my life that led up to the current drastic changes.
I can roughly break my life up into chunks of time: from birth up until high school, from high school until after my mission to Taiwan, and from returning from Taiwan until separation from the Navy. These are categorized much more by feeling than they are by time, but for those interested that’s 14 years, 7 years, and 9 years, respectively. Each was an era defined in my mind by my rate of growth.
As I see it, from birth to high school I changed very little. Everyday life was pretty much the same: go to school, get good grades, be bored all the time. I filled my excess time by playing with my LEGOs. Looking back, everyday seems very much the same and boredom is an overarching theme. Let’s call this era the Era of Boredom.
Let me pause for a moment. Please don’t misunderstand me. There were many great and wonderful activities taking place during this time, but these eras have little to do with how I filled my days and everything to do with how much I learned and how fast I grew during that timeframe. My eras are defined by how my potential was utilized, or underutilized, as the case may be.
From high school until returning from Taiwan, I spent a lot of time deciding who I wanted to be and what I wanted to get out of life. I started observing people, particularly couples, to see how they interacted. I decided what type of husband and father I wanted to be. I decided that I would travel so as to not live my whole life and then die in the same town. I learned that I had talents that I didn’t know I had, like the ability to learn Chinese. (This was especially important after taking four years of Spanish in high school and not remembering any of it.) I decided that people are basically good. This was my Decision Era.
The first part of the next era could almost be its own mini era, but I include it with this one because it led to all of the wonderful things that have happened to me over the last seven years. After I returned from Taiwan, I began to yearn for more personal growth. I tried college, but I couldn’t afford it after the first semester. My work was unsatisfying and I felt my potential was being wasted. My only significant work experience was in the grocery business; I wanted to be something more, but I was limited by my lack of education and experience.
My father suggested I join the Navy, which I did, and I left for basic training about six months later. (One thing I love about the military—they will hire you based on your potential, rather than based on what you’ve already done.) After basic training, I was sent to Monterey, California to learn Korean, and it was here that I met Alicia, who basically walked me through the process of getting an Associate’s degree in Korean. It was also here that I met my lovely wife, Liz, who has inspired me to become everything I’ve only ever dreamed of being. With her encouragement, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and was successfully admitted into Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. I’ve become what Liz always wanted in a husband. (This is especially important because I really didn’t have much going for me when we met.) We also have a beautiful daughter, which has been a wonderful experience for both Liz and I as we watch her grow. My little family has been able to experience multiple cultures in the last few years as we traveled throughout Hawaii, Korea, China, Taiwan, and much of the continental United States together. So, what began as an era of no experience or education, ended up being chocked full of both and has been by far the greatest of the all three.
Now that we are settled and I am in school, I feel as though the Education and Experience Era has come to an end. Despite the fact that I am currently pursuing another degree, I feel that the growth associated with this time far outweighs that of the prior era—enough so to start anew. As with so many other things, only time will tell. I will say this much though… I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of what I’m learning and doing now. Combine that with the joys of being with my family every day, and I don’t believe I’ve ever been happier.
While I don’t know everything the future holds, I am very excited for this new season of my life and for what’s in store for me and my little family!
1 comment:
Great post, I really enjoyed it!
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