One of the greatest things, I think, about being an adult is discovering that you truly do have the ability to surprise yourself. You grow, you evolve, you try new things. For the most part, I was the same "type" of person for my first 20 or so years. From 20 to 30, I changed a lot, as anyone would. But I feel like I've grown in absolute leaps and bounds since turning 30. Considering I'm only just now 31, that's a lot of change. Here are a few of the evolutions I never thought would take place, especially when I was a teenager:
~I am now a bona fide Morning Person. I used to hate, hate, hate Morning People when I was younger. I couldn't understand waking up early when you had no place to be. Back in college, I worked part-time at a shoe store. The store opened at 10 am, and do you know I would actually have to set my alarm for 9 in order to get up and get there on time? And I remember hearing the alarm, rolling over in disgust to turn it off, and being like, "Ugghhhhhhhhhh...it's 9 am." Whaaaaaat?? Times have certainly changed. What facilitated my change was of course my job. Believe me, it wasn't my choice to start waking up super early everyday. After college, I started working from 7 to 4. It was horrible. It took about 2 years for me to get acclimated to waking up so early, but now that I've done it (and now that I work 7 to 545) it is totally my routine. It's part of who I am. Even on the weekends, my eyes still pop open at 5:45 AM when I should be getting ready for work. I still go back to sleep, but I'm invariably up by 6:15 or 6:30, which I considered hellaciously early back in the day. The only time I would've been up voluntarily at 6:30 am when I was 21 would be if I had an early morning plane to catch or I was on my way to the hospital for an outpatient procedure. I mean seriously. Fast forward 10 years to age 31, and here's what I've done so far this very morning, on my day off: Woke up at 6, ran a 5K (more on this crazy development in a second) did 2 loads of laundry, went out for coffee, vacuumed the whole house & started this blog post. It's official: I am a morning person! Totally surprising that I became one.
~I can run. This is a simple sentence, but I feel it bears repeating: I can run. As a kid, I was completely averse to running. Presidential Fitness Test time in grade school? I wanted to die. I remember having to run laps around the gym and thinking "Wtf?" only in 8 year-old terms. Not only was I never a runner, but I was never athletic. This was the case all the way up until I was 30. I exercised regularly by going on long walks and using the elliptical. A couple months after I turned 30, my boss introduced us to the Couch to 5K program. We did it together and ran a 5K after several months of training. You're probably expecting me to say I fell in love with running then and there. I didn't. In fact, I hated it even more. My husband and I completed the program and the 5K, and I was pretty sure I crossed "Run a 5K" off my bucket list and would never run again. That winter, I was on the elliptical everyday doing 8 to 10 miles. Apparently I built up a ton of endurance doing this, because on our first warm day in March, I decided to go for a run just to see what would happen. Turns out I busted out 2 miles like it was nothing. Mind you, at the height of my training for the 5K, 2 miles practically killed me. Somehow, running became easier for me. My pace quickened and it became fun. Now, I run when I can to decompress. I love it because I think about everything when I'm running, but sometimes I think about absolutely nothing. I run anywhere between 3 to 5 miles and the feeling afterward is heavenly...I see what people mean when they talk about a Runner's High. I've gone from someone who HATED running to someone who bounds out of bed on Saturday morning, laces up her running shoes and busts out a long run. I know, I don't understand it either.
~Last but not least, since turning 30 I have become crafty. This blows me away perhaps more than my other two evolutions of becoming a morning person and discovering that I love running. I was always the kid who sucked at art in grade school (probably because it was Product Art and not Process Art. Now that I'm a teacher, I see the enormous value in letting kids create whatever the heck they want, not forcing them to glue different pieces of construction paper together to make a penguin.) I owe this craftiness to my mother-in-law. She is a very gifted seamstress and always makes things. She's even made wedding gowns for people, which I still find incredible. Last year, she offered to teach me to sew. I expected this to be an exercise in futility....something that would result in her frustration and my increasing desperation as I kept trying to do something that clearly my hands wouldn't allow. Come to find out, she is a wonderful teacher. I have to chalk it up to that, because the fact that I learned how to operate sewing machines and make quilts, blankets, throw pillows and heating pads can only be attributed to having a good teacher. A confession: I suck at cutting fabric. I can't cut anything straight (that includes construction paper at work) and I don't see myself really improving in that area. Also, my hand-sewing? Horrific. I need to take a lesson from Bonnie because she once sewed an entire quilt exclusively by hand. I needed to italicize that part because it is truly remarkable, shocking and overwhelming to think about. But regardless of my personal short-comings, I can still do it. Pre-cut fabrics are my best friend. When I was 15, or 18, or even 21 or 25, if you told me I'd be firing up a sewing machine and creating things, I honestly wouldn't have believed it.
Sometimes I reflect on how much I've changed since I was younger, but especially how much I've changed just since turning 30. I love it. I'm a different person than I was then, that's the simplest way to put it. It's a wonderful thing when you realize you're always changing. I can't wait to see what I'm like when I'm 40! (let's rephrase that: I CAN MOST CERTAINLY WAIT to see what I'm like when I'm 40...gag. I'm sure that day will be here soon enough though!)
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