I have been in a big girl, corporate, 8-5 job for about four and a half months. I have also been in a brand new city, cultivating a brand new life and getting hit in the face with reality outside of the educational world for about nine months. There are some things I've learned that I sorely wish someone would have told me, maybe to not to stop it from happening, but if only to be prepared for it. This is what I have learned.
--There is no such thing as passing with a 70% in the real world. All of those years in school where the idea is to try your best and aim for the A but if you make a B it's still great and as long as you pass, you're doing well? Crap. Complete and utter crap. If you make mistakes in the real world, you cost your company money, you cost customers/clients money, you get fined if you get audited. There is a world of chaos just waiting to devour you if you do not do one hundred percent CORRECT work, one hundred percent of the time.
--Waking up early, enjoying an hour of silence and peace while the world is still sleeping is GLORIOUS. Anyone who knows me knows I abhor waking up early. I am a Godzilla/Sleeping-Beauty-Dragon-Queen mutant if I am woken up even ten minutes before I have to be. But there are days when, as an adult with sleeping issues, I find myself lying awake at 5 in the morning, wondering why I am up at the ever dreaded hour before dawn. Some of these days, I drag my butt out of bed, make some coffee, and head out to my patio. I get a smidgen of a moment of silence in my day to do what I want. Nothing has gone disastrous yet and I get this little tingle behind my face (is that a smile in the morning??) And the world is my oyster, for one shallow little hour in the morning. Sometimes I read a book, the Bible, the news; sometimes I sing to myself. But that can make the difference between a regular old day and a treasure I finally have the time and energy to discover.
--Change purses often. Or backpacks or sports bags. (Or, God forbid, that man-purse satchel you'd die if anyone knew you had.) Not just for fashion or function, but because it makes you decide what is really important to have with you. Sure it's nice to keep lotion, a nail file, deodorant and body spray in case you forget, a pocket knife, a granola bar, extra make up in case you go somewhere, a comb, flats in case your shoes hurt, a small animal in case you get lonely and a brick in case you run into that jerk from work on the street. But really, you don't NEED these things. You will survive the day without your creature comforts. Life will go on. I present to you the man chant: Phone, keys, wallet, and watch. (Most don't even really need the watch anymore, but go with it anyway.) Chant to yourself before you leave the house: Phone, keys, wallet, and watch. You'll be prepared to handle anything disastrous. Say it, everybody!! Phone, keys, wallet, and watch. I learned this from some guy friend of mine (possibly an ex? Who remembers?) forever ago and it keeps things in perspective. Not only is this all you really need, but it's all that really matters. *Bonus!* You can also do a preemptive strike on the mountain of receipts, business cards, bobby pins, spare change, lint from last year, the gum you'll never actually chew, and the book you forgot you were reading halfway through. Imagine the possibilities!
Which brings me to my last bit of advice:
--Keep things in perspective. I'm currently reading a book that was authored by a man with locked in syndrome. (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Buy it, you really won't be sorry). I say authored because the man has full use of his mind but his body is completely motionless. Except for his left eye. Maybe you have a few aches and pains and maybe your life isn't everything you wanted it to be. But life's a journey, not a destination. Take it as it comes and never once believe that you're not enough. Money will always come when it's needed and food will always happen. Quit worrying about all the crap you have no control over. At the end of the day, everything works out the way it's supposed to and if it's not meant to be, it won't. If it is, it will.
It's all about balance. I guess that's really the theme here. Balance the urgency with which you perform a task with your desire to do it well and correctly. Balance your busy time with your quiet time. Balance your expectations of yourself and others with reality. I will be the first to admit I suck at remembering this quite frequently but the moments that I do, I give myself a silent, happy little high five.
And that's enough :)
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