Two Years Later… How Life Changed From California to Colorado
How many times are you told as you're growing up that the older you get the quicker time seems to move? Yet when you're a kid you think there's no way that's possible because obviously time moves incredibly slowly and you're ready to be an adult because being an adult seems like way more fun.
I wish I would have listened to that advice and lived a little more in the moment when I was still just a kid in school. After all, over three years ago I graduated college, and since then, my life has been moving at the highest rate of speed possible. But, what strikes me most is the fact that three years ago (and even just two years ago) every goal I had set for myself and my five year plan is completely different from the goals I have for my future nowadays.
You see, two years ago I uprooted my life and set myself on a journey that would change nearly every little thing about who I was and what I wanted out of life. I know it sounds dramatic, but if you ever move a few states away from where you were born and raised, then you know it's the reality of changing your life inside and out.
The Interview For The Job I Thought I Had No Chance At
Just two years ago I entered the doors to this office for the first time.
To best tell this story, we have to look back at May 2016. I had just quit my previous job as a farm broadcaster due to some shifting priorities for my boss and the reality that the role he wanted me to take on wasn't the role I wanted. So, I took a risk and I quit without another job lined up. While it wasn't a huge risk since I was still living at home with my parents and had a small amount saved up from my time working, it still felt like I was taking a chance at long-term unemployment.
However, after a couple of weeks of applying for jobs (and a few interviews and "no"s later), I got an email to set up an interview with my current employer, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. It was the first serious out-of-state interview I had received. Granted, I didn't think I had any chance at landing the job (one of the requirements for the position was to know HTML, which, at the time, I was clueless about). In fact, that one requirement is what took me a month to even apply for the position in the first place. And yet, I finally applied, and somehow was given the chance to interview over the phone.
As you all know by now, that phone interview turned into an in-person interview and finally a job offer.
What Life Looked Like When I First Moved To Colorado
You could say that my life was pretty picture perfect when I first left California to start my new adventure in Colorado. I had a new job, a boyfriend (albeit we were long distance) I was convinced I would marry, a cute (though old) home that I was renting, and a chance to really figure out who I was on my own.
My five year plan seemed solid as a rock that I could lean on when I started feeling homesick. Of course, if you've heard Thomas Rhett's song "Life Changes," then you should know that the foundation of my long-term plans started to unravel one-by-one.
The cute little rental house that I got to experience life on my own in for the first time.
The first chip in my armor was planned for, and that was the fact that the cute home I was renting was a temporary situation. Granted, knowing that and then having to find somewhere to live are two totally different mindsets. So, at the six-month mark, I shed the first bit of initial comfort I had when I moved to Colorado and said goodbye to my temporary home.
The next ding in that armor hit me pretty hard. Having a long distance boyfriend was way more of a challenge than I had anticipated (well, actually I remember wondering to myself if I could really handle being long distance- deep down I knew the answer was no, but when you're young and in love you'll convince yourself you can handle anything, especially if it isn't true). Little by little my relationship began to waiver.
At first, I was convinced that our separation would only last a year until my then boyfriend graduated from college. But, as life has it, he needed a few extra credits to graduate, so he wouldn't be done with school for a year and a half. Extending the end date of our long distance relationship felt like a punch to my gut. But, that was only the beginning. Eventually, in our conversations, I suddenly realized that I was no longer a part of his five year plan. Whether that was intentional or not, I'm still not sure. So, a year and a few months after I set out to leave California behind and expand my horizons, my now ex broke up with me. It turned out that, while my plan had always been to leave my home state and never return, he had never had any intention of leaving, and thought my mind would change after I'd experienced life outside of California. He was wrong.
Before leaving California, I was 90% sure of what my future was going to look like. After the move, though, I've learned to live in the moment a lot more and to not worry about being so certain of the future.
So What's Next?
If I had a crystal ball and could see the future, the truth is that I wouldn't want to know what it holds. Life is an adventure, and I'm happy enough to live in each moment without thinking too much on what life is going to look like five years from now- let alone what it'll look like in one year.