Today’s daily prompt asked me if I am now where I thought I would be at 16. No. I’m not. But I think that’s more because at 16, I had no idea where I’d be in my thirties. I never had my life all figured out.
If I were a pessimist, I’d say maybe I am where I am now because I didn’t have a plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right?
I don’t think so. Even as a young kid, I think I was pretty sure I wanted to be a lawyer. But in high school, a “friend” of mine said something very discouraging to me. It haunted me for too long. So I went to college with an open mind. I took classes in anything I wanted to (I went to a hippie school where I didn’t have to pick a major). My last year in college I started thinking about law school again. Since I didn’t have any better ideas, why not?
I graduated from law school just in time for the recession. I had a job I loved in a small firm, but this experience didn’t translate so well when I moved to a different state. I’ve been gainfully underemployed ever since. And without any luck in my local legal community, I’m starting something on my own.
So no, at 16, I didn’t think that I’d be starting my own business. I didn’t even think this was where I’d be when I was in law school. My decision to try to do it on my own still scares me.
(title of my post comes from Green Day’s song Coming Clean. Which I probably listened to a lot when I was 16-17.)
My sixteen year old self would have looked at who I have become in horror and dismay. My 16 year old self was an idiot. Here’s to who we are!
Good luck in your new venture!
Thanks.
Yeah, my 16 year old self was an idiot too.