Freedom

I learn something new every day in the Terry College of Business. Yes, I know I am in school and learning is why I struggle out of bed every morning, but I never realized how much learning takes place outside of books and tests.

We had a speaker in my management class this morning and he was telling us ways to succeed in the business world. All of his points started to make me think about my life as an undergraduate student and the life I want to have after I leave the University. I really have no idea what's in store for me when I enter the "real world" which makes my Type A personality go a little crazy. I want my life to be planned but each day I am in college I realize it's easier to have long term goals and just live my life to the best of my abilities each day to achieve those goals. I believe that my actions influence the opportunities that I am presented with on a daily basis but I also have to believe that there is a plan for my life that is out of my control.

All of those factors considered, I tend to question "life in general" fairly often. Will I be happy working in the business world? Will I be able to have the family I have always dreamed about? How will my dreams change when I do enter the work force? I have always had a picture of how I thought my life would end up but with each passing "lesson" I am realizing that my dreams and the path that my life is taking right now are different. Since I am unaware of what the real world has in store for me, I don't know when my dreams and the life I am living will cross paths but I know that when I get to that part of my life I will learn how to handle whatever life throws at me.

I think the lecture that I heard today was just the icing on the cake of a balanced week for me. Yes, I had a finance test last night that the professor had to apologize for after the fact because he didn't even realize how brutal it was before making us sit through it for 2.5 hours, but that is just one slot of time in a week that is made up of 168 hours. I also took time this week to reconnect with Habitat's overall purpose and help people I care about not lose their minds over preparing for this weekend. I am so content with my life this week that it makes me wonder what is lurking around the corner. Good or bad, I am ready for whatever comes next.

Moral of the story: one of my peers this morning asked our guest speaker "how do you measure success?" and our speaker replied that he had no idea how much he was worth but he knows that he has the freedom to do what he wants when he wants to do. I think that might be the perfect answer to that question. Who doesn't want the ability to travel the world on your own ticket without anything holding you back? Traveling the world is definitely not the first thing on my list but it's just the idea of knowing that you control your life because you have the resources to make your own decisions that is empowering. Now, I have to take these lessons and actually apply them to my life going forward...should be an interesting ride!