Now What?

          Well, it's been a while since I wrote a blog post, about a year and a half to be exact. But it's a new year and with all the changes that have been happening in my life, I decided this was exactly what I needed. I need to get back to the basics and do things that make me happy, things that make me more me. A lot has changed in the past year. I went from being a senior in college to a working professional living on my own, trying to find my place in the big crazy adventure we call life. As I move forward, I can't help but look back on all the good things that ave happened in the past year and a half. That's natural though, right? We look back to what makes us feel comfortable, look back to the times and events that led us to where we are in this present moment. It is those moments that shape us into who we are in this present moment. 

           Looking back I can't help but feel so thankful for my senior year of college. It was all I could have asked for and more. I spent all my time with the very special friends who over the past 4 years have grown to be my family. We laughed together, had dance parties in our back yard in the late hours of the night, watched frozen more times than we probably should have and made memories that will surely be told to our children one day. Unfortunately that time could not last forever and the days until graduation whittled away until there was no time left. It was then then the moment I had been dreading all year, the moment that I would be forced into the "real world."

            After much thought, I decided to jump right into the "real world" by moving to a new town (where I knew no one) in order to start a new job. I had done the whole moving to a new place, not knowing anyone, when I went off to college, but somehow this time it was much more daunting. In college I was thrown into an environment with people in the same stage of life as me, having no idea what we were doing in life. Moving to a new city after college was probably the scariest thing that I have ever done. I moved to Nashville in July, not knowing a soul, living by myself, and starting a job where I literally help children fight for their lives. What could be more scary? Nothing really, or it least it felt like that. There came a point when I had to put all the fears and self-doubt on the back burner, in order to see how truly blessed I was. I graduated from a great university, passed my nursing boards, and started my dream job working as a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. 

          What's next? Now that I have checked all of those things of my life to-do list I am faced with the forever daunting question of "Now What?" What comes next? What is the next things to look forward to in my future. There are no more Christmas breaks, spring breaks or graduations to look forward to. Times just passes by, and very quickly I must add. Now that I'm in the real world, I need to find new things to look forward to such as scheduling my next set of shifts, my next day off and lastly friends' weddings. You know you are finally grown up when your first set of college friends get married. So here's to the "real world", the world of unknowns and growing up. May I find the serenity to take life as it comes and find joy in the small things along the way.

To Quote a great movie (Ferris Bueller's Day Off):

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"