I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Today is a very big day for me.
First of all, it's my birthday. I'm now 32 years old.
Second, today is the day I close on The Fortress Of Solitude, my condo on Arlington Avenue in Downtown Reno (click here or keep paging down to see a picture of the view from the Lookout of the Fortress of Solitude, i.e. my balcony). I've never owned a home before. True, at my age Alexander the Great had conquered most of the known world, but for me this is a pretty big step.
Third, in two weeks I'll be starting a new job as a prosecutor, a move made possible by my passing the State Bar last month; I've done this sort of work before in what now seems like a former lifetime, but this time I have the experience to make it happen. It will mean more money and the chance to get back into the actual practice of law again.
Last but definitely not least, there's Melissa. We've only known each other for about three months, but things are going very well. She's everything I ever wanted in a woman--smart, ambitious, loving, beautiful, the whole package. I think there could be big things in our future.
To some this seems like overnight success. Anyone who's known me for a few years, however, knows better. For ten years now I've been working, fretting, hustling to make ends meet, trying to think long-term. I've been through poverty, self-doubt, depression, all of the things that will lead you to the Dark Side if you're not careful, and I've persevered. Now, in a sort of perfect storm, everything is finally falling into place. It's about five years or so behind when I planned on it all happening, but I'm finally here and that's what counts. If you'll pardon the cliche, I've worked long and hard to be an overnight success.
Birthdays, like New Years, are often times for renewed dedication and commitment to achieving the things that are important to us. They serve not only as milestones, but as reminders of our limited time in this world and the fact that our lives are being lived whether we are paying attention or not. In past years on my birthday I've told myself that by God, this would be The Year, that at 28 or 29 or 30 or 31 I was going to finally make it happen. In those days, in the back of my mind, something always sensed that I still wasn't ready, that the pieces hadn't quite fallen into place yet, that the life I wanted was still a ways off. But not this year.
These past two months have probably been the best of my life, and I think things are only going to get better. There's still much work to be done, of course; I have the pressure that always attends a new job, the debt on my (MY!) new home to deal with, and of course, pride always goeth before a fall, so I probably shouldn't be crowing too loud just on principle. But already on this day, the culmination of my 32nd year on this planet, I can tell things are going to be different this time around.
First of all, it's my birthday. I'm now 32 years old.
Second, today is the day I close on The Fortress Of Solitude, my condo on Arlington Avenue in Downtown Reno (click here or keep paging down to see a picture of the view from the Lookout of the Fortress of Solitude, i.e. my balcony). I've never owned a home before. True, at my age Alexander the Great had conquered most of the known world, but for me this is a pretty big step.
Third, in two weeks I'll be starting a new job as a prosecutor, a move made possible by my passing the State Bar last month; I've done this sort of work before in what now seems like a former lifetime, but this time I have the experience to make it happen. It will mean more money and the chance to get back into the actual practice of law again.
Last but definitely not least, there's Melissa. We've only known each other for about three months, but things are going very well. She's everything I ever wanted in a woman--smart, ambitious, loving, beautiful, the whole package. I think there could be big things in our future.
To some this seems like overnight success. Anyone who's known me for a few years, however, knows better. For ten years now I've been working, fretting, hustling to make ends meet, trying to think long-term. I've been through poverty, self-doubt, depression, all of the things that will lead you to the Dark Side if you're not careful, and I've persevered. Now, in a sort of perfect storm, everything is finally falling into place. It's about five years or so behind when I planned on it all happening, but I'm finally here and that's what counts. If you'll pardon the cliche, I've worked long and hard to be an overnight success.
Birthdays, like New Years, are often times for renewed dedication and commitment to achieving the things that are important to us. They serve not only as milestones, but as reminders of our limited time in this world and the fact that our lives are being lived whether we are paying attention or not. In past years on my birthday I've told myself that by God, this would be The Year, that at 28 or 29 or 30 or 31 I was going to finally make it happen. In those days, in the back of my mind, something always sensed that I still wasn't ready, that the pieces hadn't quite fallen into place yet, that the life I wanted was still a ways off. But not this year.
These past two months have probably been the best of my life, and I think things are only going to get better. There's still much work to be done, of course; I have the pressure that always attends a new job, the debt on my (MY!) new home to deal with, and of course, pride always goeth before a fall, so I probably shouldn't be crowing too loud just on principle. But already on this day, the culmination of my 32nd year on this planet, I can tell things are going to be different this time around.
posted by Yukon Sully | 8:24 AM
3 Comments:
Happy Birthday Patrick!!
Yeah, Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world by the time he was 32, but he had Angelina Jolie behind him, egging him on, and you had no such mother. I do think, though, that I tried to encourage you (we all did) and to not give up on law, since you had already spent so much time and money preparing for that profession. Yes, it has been a tough struggle for you (like having to ride a bike to law school) and you deserve many rewards. God bless ....mombo
Congratulations on your successes, and happy birthday! :)
Patrick- I hope your birthday was wonderful. I am so very proud of you and your accomplishments, I always knew you could do it. Success takes time and you have done it. Great job!
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