Where Do You See Yourself?

"Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?"

Who remembers this as a default question on the first day of high school or college? And then they ask it again later in the year or the semester to gauge where you've grown.

Truth is, it's a bit of a loaded and unnerving question isn't it? How are we to know where we'll be in five years or ten years? The weird part is, when we're younger, it almost seems easier to answer some version of this question: if you're 18, in five years, you've most likely graduated college and are working at your first job. And at that age, the idea of ten years is terrifying so we probably all say stupid things like "I'll have a Ferrari" or "I'll be Chief something-or-other of a company."

In the last year or so, I've done more reflecting and thinking than I have in previous years. Call it "getting old" but who am I kidding? My own husband tells me I'm not at the point of calling myself "old" yet.

Since I left my last job in May 2017, I often feel impostor syndrome. In the fashion world, I got things, mainly how to market our products so the consumer felt the want (ahem, read "need") for what we were selling. Never in a million years would I have imagined ending up where I am now. I say it often at home (sorry, Nicholas) but if you had told January 2017 Me that I would be where I am now, just a year later, I would have probably nervous laughed.

Point is, I think many of us close ourselves off to opportunities that don't seem a myriad of things, including: "right," "within reach," "what I want," etc. and without actually going out and trying, how exactly would you know?

Some of my favorite experiences I've had in life have all boiled down to one thing: taking a chance, a very scary chance. Whether that was studying abroad in Japan or moving across the country to a city I'd never been to or even moving industries.

I don't believe that opportunities or chances necessarily have an expiration date - life has a funny way of taking your plans and shaking them up. Never would I have imagined or planned to move to NYC, get married in Disney World, or making some of the life decisions that are coming up in the next year or two. 

What I'm trying to get at is, no matter what is happening in your life right now or how crazy life seems, there's always something in the works and the universe or the higher being you believe in may not show it to you directly or in that exact second (or week or month) but there's always something. And sometimes, things may not make sense in that exact moment, but you later understand the significance and impact of the aforementioned "thing."

I've been fortunate to have a solid support system over the years to cope with struggles, issues, and just downright sad times. And I'm happy I can offer the same type of support to my friends, if and when they need it.

So, as much as it goes against my normal OCD self to say this because I'm the person that starts planning holidays months in advance... Next time someone asks you (or if you ask yourself) about your plans, in the near or far future, start to think of it less like a scary notion that's uncertain and causes you anxiety but think of it more of an adventure where you have most of it planned out but you're willing to roll with the pieces you don't know. I believe that you'll discover that you're the ever-so-tiniest bit happier.