Chase the Change You Want To See

After asking my friend Brittany to blog about why change scares her and reading her post, I figured I'll blog about the other side of the coin, my side isn't scary. Let me start by saying that before I read Britt's blog I didn't think I encountered too many changes. However, now I see that I over look a lot of the changes in my life without giving it a second thought. I don't over think things. I like to paint my nails a different color every week. Whenever I have the chance to change my running route, I take it! Trying new places and things excites me. My health changes pretty frequently, but I expect it and accept it.  For the past six years, I've had a new school schedule every semester with new material, new professors, new classmates.

I think the biggest change in my life is happening right now with me getting a new job.  This change excites me! Sure, I may have some nervous jitters, but I'm not afraid of it. I wanted this, so I chased the change I wanted to see.  Perhaps I'm optimistic in that I believe I can control most of the changes in my life without letting them control me.

I recognize that not all change is good. When Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, he went on to create Pixar. Being fired from Apple seems like the worst thing that could happen to the founder of the company, but Mr. Jobs made the best of it and didn't let it stop him from chasing his dreams.

I wrote a poem many years ago titled: Chance to Chase:

Quitting isn't a bad thing 
If it gets us closer to our dreams
Might be hard to turn the page
If we never take the chance to chase
But if we chase the change we want to see
We might get the chance to chase our dreams

Strangely enough, I use this poem as a rule of thumb when deciding to quit. I've thought about quitting school many times when health issues bogged me down, but quitting would not get me closer to my dreams so I always decided to stick with it.  When deciding to quit my current job and take the job with Mazda, I quit because I believe the job with Mazda will get me closer to my dreams.

The End is Near

           The first month of the new year is almost over! It seems like 2014 is already flying by. I'll be another year older next month and I've never been more focused on my future than I am right now. I believe they call it the "senior itch." I'm ready to be done with school  As long as I pass my three classes this semester I'll only have six classes left to take in order to graduate with my B.S.B.A. in Finance! I am beyond ready to be finished with school and begin the next chapter in my life.

           When class registration opens, I'll be able to register for the last six classes I need. One of the benefits of having a G.P.A. higher than 3.5 is that I get to register for up to three semesters out while others can only register for one. Most of the classes I have left to take are electives which range from real estate, advanced international business, business negotiations, etc... so I'm flexible in that I'll have many class options to choose from that will work with my schedule. My goal is to register for three or four classes in the summer and two or three classes in the fall so that I can graduate in December 2014! I'm ready! I just hope that I can get all the classes I need when it comes time to register in order to graduate in December.

             As for the next chapter I've been throwing around two ideas. The first is finding a decent entry level job in a field related to finance. The second is moving somewhere out west. Obviously, the major reason I went to college in the first place was to become more employable in order to better support myself in life and pursue dreams of adventure. Now that the end is in sight I am craving an adventure of a lifetime! It's like I'm homesick for a place I don't even know that exists yet. I have gotten feedback from friends and family about me moving across country. There are natural concerns and things to consider before committing to such a huge decision, but more on that in another post. I was pleasantly surprised at how much positive feedback I received. Others were as excited as I am about the idea of a true adventure! If not now, when? I think the answer to this question is likely to be never.  Last year as I was flying home from Las Vegas I looked out the window of the plane to see the sun setting behind me and the Grand Canyon under my feet.  The day was over and I felt like I was leaving a world of  unknown adventure behind me. It's hard to explain, but I don't get that feeling where I call home now.