The Gap Between What Is Real And What We Imagined

I was reading a book the other day and ran across this line – “We are all just living in the gap between what is real and what we imagined”. And it got me thinking. What does that look like?

We all had an idea of what we thought our life was gonna be like when we grew up. What our family was going to look like, what kind of house we were going to live in and what kind of job we were gonna have. At least we were bouncing between a few narrowed down job options – fireman or astronaut.

Then we played ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’…graduated, went to college or started a job, got married early or joined the military. Or a thousand other options. The thing is – how many of us are doing what we thought we would when we were planning our lives out in high school? I can tell you I sure never thought about what a forklift was or that I was going to sell them for a living. Never crossed my mind.

March is my birthday month so it gets me thinking about my age and if I’m where I was where I thought I was gonna be at….this age. I’m not where I thought I was going to be when I planned out my life at the ripe old age of 18. And here’s the thing – it’s totally ok. It’s completely different than I imagined. That’s one of my favorite things about life. It’s never as I thought. Life is change. Life is sometimes hard. Life is full of surprises. Life isn’t fair. But all in all, life is also beautiful. And fun. And always full opportunities you didn’t see coming.

I’m one of those crazy people who is always looking for a new adventure and new people to drag along with me on it. And the cool part about it? I GET to do it. And I do. As often as I can. This life I live is one of the coolest things – and it was something that I never would’ve dreamed that I’d love. And I’m just over here having new adventures and dreaming new dreams and meeting the most interesting people along the way.

Let’s talk about some of those people. When I left Philly six years ago (yep, it’s been that long now!), I wrote a post about how it takes a village – this is normally said when raising children – but I was talking about how many people helped this big kid move her life out West. There were so many that helped me that January. I’ll never forget it. Missed that one? You can read it here…. It Takes A Village

After spending four years in Colorado, I’ve now been living and working in Tennessee for two years. On one hand, it’s unbelievable it has been two whole years already and on the other? Feels like I’ve been here longer. Hint – I really love it here. Doesn’t feel like home yet, but I’m finding my way.

Oh – back to the people. One of the most unbelievable things to me in this is the amount of people I’ve met and become good friends with so far in Tennessee. Most of them are work friends, but I’m also working on adding to my circle of personal friends. Some of these people have been so important to me and my navigation of the state, of my job and just life in the South in general. (Ask me about the list of “Southern Sayin’s” I’m keeping on my phone – it’s hilarious!) I’m so thankful for the people who have come into my life and the relationships we’re building here.

I have good news – I recently received a pretty cool promotion at work and it’s been a crazy six weeks of planning and understanding new roles and planning some more and – oh look – things are changing again!! As most of you know, I can get introspective and reflective when things like this come around. And I can’t take all the credit – there is a literal ARMY of people keeping me going from day to day and week to week. If you are one of the ones who have spent untold minutes and sometimes hours talking through all the things and giving me all the advice, thank you. Sincerely. You guys have meant the world to me and you are usually my favorite parts of the day. I couldn’t have done it without you.

I’m telling you about this because it goes back to what is imagined over what is real. When I made the decision to move to Colorado and start a new job, I had no idea what was in store for me. Those years brought me exposure to other companies, allowed so many new people to come into my life, and I got to spend weekends in the Rocky Mountains. Talk about a win/win. I also gained life friends and connections – those are priceless.

Then came the decision to move to Tennessee. Where I didn’t know anyone and had no clue what I was walking into. It was scary, exciting and all the other feels you can imagine. And now, two years later? I’ve been promoted, my income has increased, I bought a house, started therapy, met some great friends, and it feels like I’m just getting started.

Have there been hard times? You know it. Have there been ugly sobbing cries of WTF have I done? Absolutely. Have there been disappointments and unmet expectations? Of course. But the good days so outweigh the bad. And there’s so much to look forward to.

And the fun thing? I don’t even know what not to imagine anymore. Anything could happen. I’ve been getting challenged over the past weeks to not limit God and see what He has in store for me. This new job? I didn’t see it coming. And it makes so much sense. I’m being reminded that God is working behind the scenes for me – even on days I think I’ve been forgotten. I’m so thankful and super excited to get started.

It’s helping me believe there are still big things in store. I know there’s more people to meet and more opportunities to try and more adventures to explore. Maybe it even includes being swept off my feet by an Eric Lindros type hero. You just never know ; )