Recently, a friend of mine looked over at me and asked, “What do you want?” Confused, I took a moment to question what he meant. “Right now? Like dinner? Or in a broad sense? What are you asking me?” He specified that he meant right now – what are the things in life right now that I want for myself? I want to get into grad school; #1 on the list definitely goes to that one. “Think smaller; what needs to come before that?” I thought about the things that first have to happen before that dream can become a reality. “Better grades? Waking up earlier?” I was confident in those answers as well. Like most casual conversations, before a point to the question he asked me was made, we were distracted, or our attention was captured elsewhere, so the question was deemed irrelevant.
“You still have all the time to do the things you want” – Indy Blue
Upon seeing world traveler, hot mom, fashion icon, and Ms. Lonely Ghost herself, Indy Blue’s Instagram post caption, “You still have all the time to do the things you want,” the question my friend asked me resurfaced in my mind. While I, like many of my friends, peers, and colleagues, sit and feign for the successes and triumphs of my future, I tend to forget about all of the little steps along the way that count too. We tend to hyperfixate on long-term goals so much so that our smaller goals and wants can seem impossible or overshadowed. While waking up earlier may not be as big of a deal as getting into graduate school, why am I not giving it the same attention as I would the latter goal? We must look at it like this: Every goal, as big or minuscule as it might be, is a building block to the future we want for ourselves.
Also, on my “list of wants,” backpack around Europe, write more, finish the books that have been stacked under my bed for a rainy day, have a closet that would make Carrie Bradshaw proud, and fall in love so sickeningly that I forget what heartbreak ever was. Now, these things may not happen with the snap of my fingers, and they may not be the easiest or inexpensive goals to achieve, but they are, in fact, doable, and according to the inspiration of this article Indy Blue, I still in fact, have time to achieve it all. So, tomorrow, I will wake up a bit earlier. By the end of the semester, better grades. Give me a year or so, and not only will the stack of books under my bed have dwindled, but I will also be going to graduate school. And someday along the way, I will be sitting in my Carrie-sized closet, looking back on the endless memories I have made along the way.
If you’ve made it this far, I ask you to think, “What do you want?”