Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, Of Cabbages and Kings...
Conversation that occurred at the museum the other day:
Me: "How are you today?"
Random Guy: "I'm good. Are you excited to start school again next week?"
Me: "Oh, I graduated from college last July, haha."
Random Guy: "And this is where you're working?"
Ok... so, first of all, rude. The thing is, this kind of stuff used to bother me. My last semester of college some random girl I didn't know told me I was basically a disappointment for graduating from BYU-I without getting married. That one really hurt, actually. It hurt a lot because she didn't know me, and she was making assumptions- like, I wasn't appealing to guys, or no one would ever want to marry me. The thing is, marriage came up all the time for me. I went on plenty of dates in college. In fact, I went on more dates than I would like to remember. But in the end it never felt right with any of those guys- not that they weren't great guys; it just wasn't right. So, for me it was hurtful that that girl would say that to me, because, (1) I didn't go to college to get married, and (2) she didn't know me. It hurt a lot. But, I got over it.
I grew up a lot when I graduated. I had to figure out my life. It was ridiculous. You know how all your teachers in elementary school make you write a list of goals for life? Well, my goals always ended with "graduate from college." Guess what? I did that... and I didn't have a plan for afterwards. I guess I knew the next step was "get a job," but I didn't know what job I wanted. I did a lot of searching. I applied to jobs in every field. It was ridiculous. I was so lost. I finally had my prayers answered when I got the job at the museum. I realized I loved history- ok, I'd realized that years ago, when I clicked on the history button for my major, haha. Anyways, so I figured I would start with getting experience in the museum and work my way up, ya know? I never wanted to go into teaching (Bro. Pigott, that was NOT a personal attack on you, just fyi), but I love talking about history, and what better place to do that than in a museum?!
That was why it was so frustrating when that guy came up and said that to me. He did not know me. He did not know what I had gone through to end up with my job at the museum, or the sacrifices I made, or the long prayers I had every night, trying to figure out what it was Heavenly Father wanted me to do with my life next to better serve Him. If he had come up to me three years ago and said that, I probably would have started crying. But, guess what? I have been a waitress, and I worked customer service at Kmart for a year and a half. If you can survive handling rude customers in the food and retail industries, you can handle anything. So, instead of being rude to the man, or crying, I just brushed it off. Of course I vented about it to my best friend later- it was hurtful, after all- but I knew then that it wasn't a personal attack from that man, and really, he didn't know me, and therefore did not know what he was talking about when he said that.
This experience got me thinking about my life a lot. I have realized how much I have changed in the last 6 months since I graduated. It is crazy. I cannot believe how much has changed in my life. I feel like I was a totally different person in college. And all of this contemplation has made me think about the new year, and what my goals are for the year. They're not the normal ones I usually have, like "lose weight," or "Get all A's." They are goals that will hopefully lead me to become a better person over all. And that's what really matters. It doesn't matter what we are doing now, but where we are going. What path have we decided to head out on? Because no matter who we are, we all have to start at the bottom, and work our way up. It's just the way of life. So, this is to you, random guy. Thank you for reminding me that I still have a long way to go in this life before I reach the top. But just know that I am working towards the ultimate gift. And it will be epic. You just wait and see.
Me: "How are you today?"
Random Guy: "I'm good. Are you excited to start school again next week?"
Me: "Oh, I graduated from college last July, haha."
Random Guy: "And this is where you're working?"
Ok... so, first of all, rude. The thing is, this kind of stuff used to bother me. My last semester of college some random girl I didn't know told me I was basically a disappointment for graduating from BYU-I without getting married. That one really hurt, actually. It hurt a lot because she didn't know me, and she was making assumptions- like, I wasn't appealing to guys, or no one would ever want to marry me. The thing is, marriage came up all the time for me. I went on plenty of dates in college. In fact, I went on more dates than I would like to remember. But in the end it never felt right with any of those guys- not that they weren't great guys; it just wasn't right. So, for me it was hurtful that that girl would say that to me, because, (1) I didn't go to college to get married, and (2) she didn't know me. It hurt a lot. But, I got over it.
I grew up a lot when I graduated. I had to figure out my life. It was ridiculous. You know how all your teachers in elementary school make you write a list of goals for life? Well, my goals always ended with "graduate from college." Guess what? I did that... and I didn't have a plan for afterwards. I guess I knew the next step was "get a job," but I didn't know what job I wanted. I did a lot of searching. I applied to jobs in every field. It was ridiculous. I was so lost. I finally had my prayers answered when I got the job at the museum. I realized I loved history- ok, I'd realized that years ago, when I clicked on the history button for my major, haha. Anyways, so I figured I would start with getting experience in the museum and work my way up, ya know? I never wanted to go into teaching (Bro. Pigott, that was NOT a personal attack on you, just fyi), but I love talking about history, and what better place to do that than in a museum?!
That was why it was so frustrating when that guy came up and said that to me. He did not know me. He did not know what I had gone through to end up with my job at the museum, or the sacrifices I made, or the long prayers I had every night, trying to figure out what it was Heavenly Father wanted me to do with my life next to better serve Him. If he had come up to me three years ago and said that, I probably would have started crying. But, guess what? I have been a waitress, and I worked customer service at Kmart for a year and a half. If you can survive handling rude customers in the food and retail industries, you can handle anything. So, instead of being rude to the man, or crying, I just brushed it off. Of course I vented about it to my best friend later- it was hurtful, after all- but I knew then that it wasn't a personal attack from that man, and really, he didn't know me, and therefore did not know what he was talking about when he said that.
This experience got me thinking about my life a lot. I have realized how much I have changed in the last 6 months since I graduated. It is crazy. I cannot believe how much has changed in my life. I feel like I was a totally different person in college. And all of this contemplation has made me think about the new year, and what my goals are for the year. They're not the normal ones I usually have, like "lose weight," or "Get all A's." They are goals that will hopefully lead me to become a better person over all. And that's what really matters. It doesn't matter what we are doing now, but where we are going. What path have we decided to head out on? Because no matter who we are, we all have to start at the bottom, and work our way up. It's just the way of life. So, this is to you, random guy. Thank you for reminding me that I still have a long way to go in this life before I reach the top. But just know that I am working towards the ultimate gift. And it will be epic. You just wait and see.
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