Well for those of you who have mentioned that I don’t keep up with the blog much, here’s a nice LONG update. Congrats to anyone who reads it all!! :)
First of all it was a marvelous Thanksgiving!! I love having family close and having a day to be with family and be grateful for all the blessings that we have. My cousin Lisa and her family were with us for some of the day and it was marvelous to spend time with them. I love being a pseudo-aunt and playing with these adorable kids as they somehow manage to find all of my most ticklish spots ;)
On a more serious note, in this time of gratitude I am so grateful for the knowledge we have of our Father’s plan for each of us and the help and guidance we can receive. As I approach graduation from college (after many a year :) I am coming to a crossroads that as a youth I somehow never thought that I would reach. I have an inherited fashion of trying to plan out everything in life…since I was twelve I’ve always seemed to have a five year plan, or at the very least a one year plan. But somehow, all of plans never extended past college and I now find myself having to stare down an uncharted and open road. With thousands of ideas rumbling around in my brain, I was jumping from one idea to the next with alarming frequency as I tried to decide where I should go and what I should do.
As of two weeks ago I was about 90% decided that I would move out of state upon graduation and search out new adventures. I felt comfortable with this decision and simply needed to search jobs and decide on a location. Possibilities included Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Hawaii. You’re probably wondering why Hawaii? Well, let’s face it; it would be loads of fun! However, as I sat in Relief Society last week a new plan forcefully came to mind. Ironically we were talking about living bravely and trying new things, even though we open ourselves up to failure, that we should step out and be bold. But, the thought came to mind to stay put. STAY PUT? What?!? While I found the prospect of moving somewhere new very exciting, I also wanted to force myself to grow a little more. To be more independent, to find new friends, learn a new city, all those lessons that come with new starts. So I was very surprised to have a strong prompting to stay put for at least another year after graduation. Nonetheless, it feels right. With the economy in limbo, financially speaking I am better off to stay here than to pack up and move. Also, by staying with Zions Bank for another year, I will have almost three years with the same company which is a strong reference for new jobs. I also felt that for various reasons there are connections here that need to be maintained and allowed to grow. On a completely different note, I also have ambitions to try out for the Tabernacle Choir next year, something that obviously can’t happen if I leave the state.
So while the plan is very different from the one I was charting out in my mind, I feel sure that there is a purpose for me here that I have yet to fulfill. Time will tell what that purpose might be….
4 comments:
I hope you get in the Mo Tab! That sounds awesome!
Shannon, I loved your entry. And with your wonderful voice, there is no way they would not accept you into the Mo Tab. Perhaps the fact that the new Bishop's wife is in the Mo Tab will be to your adventage:) Everyone has been mentioning the lesson in Relief Society, it sounds like it was a moving and empowering lesson. I'm glad it guided you into staying because I also have been feeling that I need to stay here for another year. We can maybe share a couple of new adventures together despite the fact that it will be in the same place we've been in for a while :)
Shan, as much as I loved that last post...(you KNOW how much I loved it..) I am glad to see a new one. It gets kind of boring for us stay at home folk when no one updates their blogs. Yes, I'm blaming you. I had no idea you had ambitions of moving out of state. But after much thought and reading your post for a LONG time, and am so glad that you decided to stay put so that when we come into town at least we can see each other. I just love you my gal!
I've been on a blogging hiatus--from writing and reading, but I'm back on the wagon. Isn't it wonderful how the Spirit can guide you? I, for one, was shooting for San Francisco, but staying put is second best. It's hard to make these kind of decisions, so good luck! We love you!
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