This

I woke up late this morning (by choice), moved slowly through my morning routine (because it's cold), and was in a general, sleep-deprived haze. Needless to say, I was not functioning at full mental capacity. But right as I walked out the door, right when I looked over the frost-covered rooftops of my little town and took a deep breath of the clear, frigid winter air, I had a revelation so clear that I stopped dead in my tracks. No, I hadn't forgotten my keys inside or left the oven on (two things I've very nearly done before); I simply realized all the little things that led me to "This."

Darius Rucker is a favorite of mine, both because he has a great voice and because he's a tie of sorts to Charleston. I love his song, "This," where he's singing about all the little things we "miss" in life; from traffic lights to closed doors/lost opportunities, lead us to "this," our current place in life. I've been living a pretty happy life over the last six months, so even when I'm thinking about my old life in SC or struggling to establish myself in a new town, I don't feel like I've "missed" anything. But this morning, I realized all I missed, and how I ended up with all "this." Enjoy.

When I was in school, I was sure that I was going to be accepted into the Coordinated Program, which meant I'd be a dietitian almost as soon as I left school. I'd get to wear my cool lab coat and I'd work alongside doctors and nurses all day. My job shadowing, my choice of electives, everything, was meant to get me into that program. Then, I didn't. I was way down the list in a long line of very qualified candidates. Oops.

I regrouped after that and set my eyes on an internship. Not quite as much fun (aka, not covered by school loans) and much harder to obtain than a spot in the CP, I eventually settled my sights on an internship that would give me the credentials I'd need, a master's, and the opportunity to create curriculum that would hopefully have an impact on an under served population. Oh, and it was going to be in Charleston, Illinois. That didn't happen.

By the end of my senior year I was burnt out on school, frustrated with my options for further education (and I thought a bachelor's was expensive...), and really just wanted to get moving with my adult life, so I moved to Charleston, South Carolina. I met more wonderful people and made more friends than I deserved, and I found a church where I learned more in three years than I had in all the time before that.

But this morning, I realized that because I missed my time in the CP, I didn't end up staying and working in the Akron area. Instead, I got to move to Charleston and experience a new part of the country and meet new people. When I didn't get that internship, I missed a chance to pay for my master's and live on private loans for three years. Now, my employer will pay for my education while I work at my super fun job which actually asks for us to create programming. And while I'm still missing all my friends in SC, I'm hopeful that in the near future, I'll have another "this" story!