Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

My life has changed unbelievably in the past year.  It has changed in ways that I never could have anticipated.  It has changed in bad ways, and it has changed in good ways (and sometimes has even ventured into truly awful and wonderfully incredible changes).  It has changed so much that it seems as though the one constant that has remained in my life is that nothing is constant.

I suppose that's kind of natural.  Nearly a year ago, I finally left academia to become a contributing member of society (or at least I went out into the Real World - whether or not I'm contributing is still up in the air).  That bubble that college (and even grad school) builds around us was burst rather quickly, and all the trials and tribulations of life came rushing in.  I feel as though I was up to the task, though I have to admit that it put me into a tailspin right at first.  I mean, to be fair, I graduated, moved to a new city, and started a new job all within 3 days.  That's enough to make anyone a little woozy.  And as avid readers of this blog will know (all 5 of you), change is and remains a concept that I personally struggle with - it's one of my many flaws, but one which hinders me less and less with each passing day.

One of the coolest things that I've discovered in this past year of my is that now that I'm essentially unattached, I have the opportunity to say YES.  In fact, that has become a personal mantra of sorts: if I can say yes to an opportunity, then I try really hard to do so.  I've had some really incredible opportunities fall into my lap in the past year, and because I had the freedom to say yes, I did, and because I said yes, my life was indelibly changed (usually for the better).  I think that Monty Python had it right in Life of Brian: always look on the bright side of life.  And if there's a bright side to the end of a long-term relationship that was incredibly important to me, its the fact that I've had the freedom to say yes to any opportunity that catches my fancy.

Because, you know what?  Life happens, whether you're paying attention or not, whether you're ready for it or not.  Might as well hop on board and see where it takes you.

That's not to say that it isn't still a struggle sometimes to say yes, or that I always can (I had to say no to what was a very compelling offer recently for a number of reasons, and it was really hard to do).  Heck, it's sometimes still a struggle coming to terms with the fact that I CAN say yes without really having to consult anyone else or take into account how it will affect their life (immediate family aside).

I guess the bottom line here is that this past year hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.  Would I necessarily have scripted it this way, given the opportunity?  Probably not.  Has it turned out better than however I would have scripted it?  Probably so (though I think the jury is still out).  It's certainly different.  I mean, if I had said a year ago that in the next 365 days I would become single, move to NYC, work in an Off-Broadway theater for a bunch of shows (and an audit), work for the NYC Fringe Festival, spend months sleeping on a good friend's floor, move back to Pittsburgh, become a Broadway producer (sort of), and find total and utter fulfillment assistant directing a high school musical, I probably would have told myself that I was crazy.  And yet, that's sort of a readers' digest version of what happened.

So now, in addition to keeping calm and carrying on, I will, whenever possible, say yes.  Because frankly, the thought that I can in any way have complete control over my life is laughably naive.  The only thing I can control is how I react to the curveballs that life will inevitably throw at me.

And now that I've squeezed a sports metaphor into this post, I will call it a day.

Keep calm, carry on, and say yes.