How hard could it be?
I will never forget the first class I registered for when I started college.
The Origins of the Universe, Earth, and Life.
In 10 weeks.
Insert hysterical laughing emoji.
Oh friends...I had so much anticipation for this moment in my life! I thought I could learn anything! I'd heard: The world is your oyster! College is the time to try new things! Expand your horizons!
So, expand, I did.
I'd never taken astronomy or chemistry or any particularly "hard" science before. And math? Whooooboy. Math was not my strong suit. But I definitely felt like I could slay the universe, earth, and life, given the chance! Now that I was in COLLEGE.
Ha.
I was SO overwhelmed. Even though it was 46 years ago, I still remember sitting with my notes and my textbook and trying, trying, trying to figure it all out. And feeling like I was drowning for the entire quarter.
I got a C-. 🥳
But the class wasn't really the point.
The surprise was realizing that college was so much bigger than I'd imagined. That I was so much bigger than I imagined!
When I got there, I had a whole vision for myself. What I would major in. How things would go.
I'd mapped it out.
As we do.
Based on everything I knew about myself in high school, I thought I knew who I was and what my life would look like. (And, if we're honest, it was shaped by who my parents hoped I'd become, too.)
Then I got there.
Suddenly my world got bigger. There were classes I'd never imagined taking. Subjects I didn't even know existed.
I started discovering what fit me...and what didn't. What felt like home...and what fit like last year's prom dress. 👗
I know I wasn't alone. Lots of people changed majors, adjusted their plans, and ended up somewhere they never expected.
Not because they'd failed, but because they'd learned enough about themselves to know their old plan no longer fit.
Now that I'm in my sixties, I'm realizing the Third Act is a lot like that. A whole new world you never envisioned before you got here.
Who you thought you were has changed. What lights you up has changed. Who you want to be in this juicy chapter of your life has changed.
I don’t want to stop thinking the world is my oyster. I don’t want to stop saying yes to opportunities to learn and grow.
I'm going to keep following what lights me up, even if it changes the plan.
Turns out, the world is still bigger than I imagined. And...once you see it, it's hard to go back to the old map.
