Life Goals: Easy as Pie

Announcement: this girl is my hero.



As per usual, I've been thinking a lot about my life. You know, what I want to accomplished today, tomorrow, five years from now, fifteen years from now...

But that's a little overwhelming, so let's start with just today and tomorrow.

I'm going to suck up my completely immature jealousy about other people in my age group who are currently enjoying the embarkment of actual careers, or at least, are working in their field of choice. You could make a stretch and say that I'm working in my field because ACT is an educational institution, but let's not kid ourselves: I'm no more teaching English/writing at the moment than I am on a hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Nor am I really making great strides in my partially*-real ambition to be a published writer.

*I say partially because while I would love to be a published writer, so would half the population, and I'm not unrealistic.

All that said, I don't want to give the impression that I've given up. Give up now, in your 20s, and you can pretty much kiss your life-long ambitions goodbye, that's what I think. (I know, I know, it's never too late-- but the chances of making the life I actually want happen should start now. Right? Right.)

Last night, while watching a rerun of one of my favorite shows, The Middle, I realized that 14-year-old Sue Heck (pictured above) is exactly the sort of girl I want to be. She fails at pretty much everything (no, really), yet she doesn't give up. She stumbles around that track five times despite crutches, rain, and general conspiracy against her, and gosh darn if she doesn't make that no-cut cross country team in the end.

Honestly, I nearly cried.

So what do I want to tackle first, bearing the spirit of Sue in mind? There are plenty of options here:

1. That neverending weight loss journey-- 40 pounds down since '09, yet since July my progress has not-so-mysteriously halted. When exactly am I going to make my gym membership an actual investment instead of a guilt-inspiring charge on the credit card? When am I going to start actually craving dinners that don't come from the grill at Panchero's or a drive-thru window?

2. My writing ambitions-- graduate school was great, but it kicked my ass and I spent the year following graduation pretty much exhausted and burned out on creative nonfiction. Now, however, it's submission season, and damn it, I need to get submitting. If I have to read one more obnoxiously pretentious Facebook status update from one of my MFA friends who are off doing super amazing things, I'm going to choke myself with my own thesis.

3. Perhaps most pressing, my financial situation. I'm on the right track, six months into an actual, non-temp job with benefits and all, but boy oh boy am I scraping the bottom of the savings account barrel. Actually, that's misleading, as it makes it sound like there's anything in my savings account (there's not). At the arrival of each paycheck, I fill Suki with gas, I pay my rent, I pay my student loan (egads), and I pay my various bills.

After that, I seem to squander the very minimal leftover cash on jewelry (but seriously, I love accessories. Can a girl really ever have too many accessories?! CAN SHE?), books (Lord girl, there are three public libraries within a ten-mile radius. So WHY?), and the mother of all money-sucks: RESTAURANTS. The cafeteria at work, fast food, sandwich places, Mexican grill, sit-down restaurants, Chinese takeout, you name it, I've probably squandered my paycheck there. And why? Why can I not make myself reign it in and prepare some gosh darn meals for myself? Lord knows it would probably kick-start the whole weight-loss thing as well (unless I cater to my cravings for mac-and-cheese several times a week. Mmmmm mac and cheese in the shape of Spider-Man or Toy Story characters...) I digress.

I think I need to be like Sue and keep my eye on the prize. Sure, making my own meals comprised of healthful ingredients, whilst, you know, working on my Pulitzer Prize-winning novel may feel like a painfully difficult existence... but I must remember Sue. Trudge on crutches through the rain around that cross-country track today... be rich, healthy, and successful tomorrow.

It's a good plan.

~