How do you feel about all this right now?

by Emily Jasper on September 15, 2009

How do you feel about all this right now?

I feel like I keep coming back to this question. I never know what the answer is off the top of my head, which means I have to pull a Rodin and think on it for a bit.

This may only apply to me right now, but it feels like I’m dealing with grown up problems that I wasn’t ready for this early in my life. When I followed the rules set forth for my generation to accomplish everything to be successful, I don’t think I read the chapter on “After You’re on Your Own.” Ok, I’m going to be honest: I don’t think the chapter existed.

I did what I was told. Get into a prestigious university. Check. Graduate with a degree. Check. Move out of the nest. Get a job. Check, check.

Since graduation it’s been a bit of a roller coaster. I moved to DC where I only knew a couple people, spending the summer figuring out how to make friends when school didn’t do that for you. I was in a serious car accident that not only gave me back problems, but affected my sleep and stress. I kept moving up in my career, and then last year literally moved to Minnesota. I took a leap of faith just as the economy took the bottom out from under me. The entire time I’ve been away from my family.

Gen-Y is known for independence but thrives on teamwork. We rely on each other and family to help us through hard times. It’s not passé to move back home, save money, and have a sense of safety during this rocky economy. The leaps I hear of now include some form of security blanket: jumping with a friend or spouse, taking a chance with others like you.

I speak to my mom quite regularly, and more and more frequently, she is telling me how all the things going on in my life hadn’t been on the master plan. They’re unexpected, and the mantra is “We’ll figure this out.”

Every day, you read about others who are experiencing critical losses…financial, material, personal. I don’t pretend to put myself in that same category. But I don’t feel prepared. I did what I was told. I followed the rules. And I’m not prepared.

So how do I feel? I need to keep pulling up my bootstraps. I should be happy to have what I have in my life, doing what I can to maintain a positive attitude. I know that hoping and smiling isn’t going enough to make it to New Year’s, to make it through next Spring, to make it to the years after. But it is a lot easier to do the work of pulling through struggles when you have hope.

How do you feel?

The views expressed in my blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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