Young?

Young and old seem so far apart from each other it's hard to tell when we leave one hemisphere to enter the other.  There is this enormous span of time in between which I hesitate to call  "middle-aged" because that term alone holds such negative connotation I would much rather skip straight to old.  What shall I call this middle time.....intermediate, transitional, middle....after a thorough thesaurus hunt I came up with nothing solid but I do like that it took me down a road full of synonyms such as versatile, transformable, and fluid.  Those are great words to describe this time.

When I was younger, let's say twenty-four, there seemed to be a very rigid form to the way things would progress, as though there was a map of early adulthood and all I had to do was follow it to the land of happiness.  Once I got there I could sit back and enjoy my life.  I followed that path fairly loyally and I am indeed happy but by no means am I ready to sit back and ride out the rest of my life, quite the contrary.  In my thirties I have more ambition, bigger dreams, certainly more confidence, and I'm ready to keep going.  I may even feel younger, no not younger, but more energetic than I did a decade ago. 

I accredit this surge of energy to several factors:

1.  My work peeps (yes I said peeps) - I truly enjoy working with young people as my peers.  I find the conversation refreshing and interesting.  Our job does not require us to be too serious so we get to be a little silly and have fun while getting our work done.  From my work partners, past and present, I have learned how to "meow" a conversation, stay relevant with music and "applications", and remember my oh-so-tiring-student days.  I thank them all for the good times and just hope they enjoy working with me too.  The last thing I need is to be the creepy old lady at work!

2.  Family - While being a mom reminds me that in fact I am an adult it also gives me opportunity to play.  I play street hockey, I swing and slide at the park, and I recently spent more than five hours at a water park.  My kids are inspiration to succeed in life.  Their dad and I are the first people they look to for guidance and inspiration (for now anyways) and I want them to see us always striving to be our best.  While my children remind me of my adulthood, my husband helps keep me in touch with my younger self.  We often transport back to out pre-parenthood days when we sat in a pub and enjoyed a pint (or two) talking for hours.  We still do that; however, the pub is our kitchen after the kids go to bed, but it's all good!

3.  School -  I will sound like  total nerd after this next sentence but I am fairly certain most people reading this already know that I am in fact a nerd and for those of you who do not know me, spoiler alert, I'm a little nerdy; therefore,  I love school.  I always have and always will love school.  Since graduating university in 2003 I have returned to school more than once and I am currently considering more courses at yet another school.   Knowing that there is always some course, class, or workshop out there keeps me motivated and excited.  If I am ever feeling in a rut, I start looking to school and even if it doesn't amount to anything I complete the course with a sense of accomplishment. 

There are probably loads of other factors in my life helping to keep me positive and excited for the next chapter, or the chapter after that, but the above three things certainly are the big contributors.  For now I will keep on caring for the kiddies, having fun at work, reading and writing, and of course hanging with my hubby.  I will do this and enjoy the middle and hopefully I will still feel this way when I finally reach old many many years from now.