When we’re children, we associate certain things with ages. Those ages become the milestones against which we set specific goals. At 16, we will drive. At 21, we will drink. At 25, we’ll know what we want to do with our time. And with whom.

25 went as quickly as it came, and once in a while, I spend time with close friends–people who have known me for a very long time, who have seen the worst in me, and who still like my company because they’ve seen something in me that warrants a continuation. I never wanted to be a part of something I felt wasn’t me. I don’t know if there’s any other way to get where we want to be other than going where we thought we wouldn’t. I think that’s one of the most important things I learned after 25.

I’m not where I want to be, and I’m not doing what I’d prefer to be doing, yet. But I’ve had a lot of moments I didn’t deserve, and on a morning like this, as the coffee warms me and I start to fully wake, I think of all of the things that didn’t happen because I made them, but because they had to.

I hope everyone has a moment of peace during which we can forget those milestones, and do the best we can with now. I hope that we can look forward and know that we can still change ourselves. We can still have what we want, even after everything else changes.

I know what I want to do with my time, and I know with whom.

I am thankful for today. I am thankful for right now.