Monday, May 18, 2009

Is My Real Life On Backorder?

I think there may be something wrong with me.  You know, I might not be normal.  Hunky Hubby actually told me yesterday that I am not normal, but he says he meant it "in the good way."  I will have to give that more thought.  But my point is this.  A wonderful and talented blogger recently posed a question to her readers.  Her witty and poignant blog is titled My Real Life Is Backordered, and this week she asked readers to tell about the parts of their own lives that are perhaps different than they had planned. I started thinking about what I would say in my comment and I realized something--I don't think I planned anything for my life.  
A similar thought actually came to me 3 years ago when my sister got married.  She told me about how she had been planning the wedding since she was a little girl, and was a bit surprised that I had never given my wedding even a tiny thought...really up until the month before I actually got married!  Oops!  I guess chicks usually care about that kinda stuff.  I didn't know! So now I'm thinking about what young NatureGirl anticipated for her life.  What were her hopes and dreams; goals and aspirations? I gotta tell ya...she must have been busy picking dandelions or something, because I can't think of a thing! I know she planned on getting taller but after that, I am drawing a blank...
What do you want to be when you grow up?  The ubiquitous query posed to even the tiniest wannabe firefighter and ballerina in our society. I am very sure that I never gave this question even a moment's thought until at least Jr. High, and at that point it was "dentist" but quite frankly, I am just not that smart.  I do not think I wanted to be a dentist as much as I wanted to WANT to be a dentist. (If you understood that sentence you are a genius.)  Then sometime in high school I got the artsy fartsy bug and decided I would move to New York and live in resplendent bohemian squalor while getting my dance career going. Only one problem...I didn't actually dance. Not all of the details were worked out.  
I always assumed I would go to college, only I did not know where I would go or what I would study.  Again with the details! When the time came I applied to some schools that looked pretty in the brochures, picked the coolest one, and at 18 headed out into the big wide world of...Provo, Utah. And then, more questions I couldn't answer... 
"So, what's your major?"
"Uh, like do I have to like pick one like soon? (I was from California) I was thinking I could maybe like try some things on for like 5 or 6 years..."
I won't tell you how long it actually took me to graduate, but a normal person could have come out of there with an entire alphabet of degrees instead of just one little B.A.  
I may not have planned the wedding early on, but I did know I wanted to be married and have children.  I pictured lots of little ones gathered around me all the time, reading, writing, painting, learning and loving!  Growing things, discovering things, making things.  We do that. I think I have fewer children than I imagined, but it was a vague number anyway. Probably around 15 or so. Whew!  Maybe I should be thankful for dreams unfulfilled huh? Hubby however is more amazing than I could have dreamed, and I wonder everyday why he chose me.  
So, here I am 13/34ths through life and I still don't know exactly what I want to be when I grow up. So, it seems that everything I never knew I had planned turned out exactly like I never thought it would!  Once in a while that lack of planning thing really works.  I guess I am just waiting to see what happens.  Where this amazing journey of life takes me...
Quote of the Day: "There are only two tragedies in life: One is not getting what you want, and the other is getting it."
--Oscar Wilde amazing playwright

8 comments:

  1. LOVE IT!! Thank you for your kind words over here, and sharing your talents over at my place. Given the responses I'm receiving over there -- and my own experiences -- I'm thinking your approach to life is as good as it gets! Establish a couple of non-negotiables, along the lines of marry a wonderful man and have a family, and then let the rest of it unfold as you go.

    As you may have noticed over on that comment page, even the so-called 'non-negotiables' don't always pan out.

    So, you go, NatureGirl! Sounds like you're the one with the best plan so far!

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  2. Wow, for not planning your life, it sure turned out pretty darn good. :) You have a great husband and wonderful children!! You are definately blessed!

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  3. Funny, I was thinking abut this very thing just the other day. I'm like you- wanted to be married and have a family and go to college, but didn't know exactly what I wanted to study. I loved my major and did graduate with a BS, but turned down grad school so I could live on the same side of the country as Greg. I've wanted to go back, but am as undecided at a 10-year-old. There are so many things that look interesting, how does one choose? So, right now I'm trying to make it through each day and take some time to think about my options. Right now landscape architecture sounds interesting, but that might be because it's spring and we're planting. Wonder what next week will bring!

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  4. As always, I love what you wrote and how you wrote it. I am wondering though, if the reason you didn't give a lot of thought to your future was because in your heart you always knew what you wanted it to be like so you didn't need to spend time thinking about it. Maybe what you would study in college wasn't as important to you as being a wife and mother. You did have a vision for what your home life would be like. I loved that. It sounds like a perfect home.

    I honestly never thought beyond what my own mother had. I was so happy as a child I thought I would be happy as an adult to just have what I had always had. I married a restless dreamer though whose thoughts were much more grand than mine and my life has been so much more interesting than I ever dreamed of. However, I would still give it all away to just have my husband and five children always in my life.

    Thanks for your thoughts. They have made me realize my blessings, but especially how grateful I am for those things in my life that seem so very ordinary.

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  5. Ok, WOW you have given me something more to think about...Thanks JFYJ

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  6. This is in response to the comment you left on my blog. For some reason I couldn't get a comment to post. Anyway. I wish all of you could come. I can't believe how grown up your kids are. Sarah is so artistic and creative. I agree 100% that news travels slow in this family. I heard about Grandpa P.'s 80th B-day party a week after it happened!

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  7. I have missed reading your blog. Are you just taking a break or out of town? I have had a hard time writing lately myself. With my kids home from school they demand most of my attention and I am sure I haven't had a single profound thought in two weeks! :-)

    Hope your summer is going well.

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  8. My blogging day has become my "temple" day. I have missed writing...I need to rearrange this summer so I can get in the game again. Thank you SOOOOOOO much for even caring whether or not I am blogging! You made my day!

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