Ever since spending a few weeks in New York a few years ago, I've thought seriously about living the city life, even if it were for just a few years. I love being at the center of the action and having concerts, museums, and restaurants a walk away. A couple of months ago, my sisters, mom, and I had lunch with Suzy and Jennifer. Afterward, we went to the sales office of some new high-rise condos in the heart of downtown—just to look. I fell in love with the floor-to-ceiling windows, spectacular views of the city, and beautiful living spaces. I could just picture myself there, relaxing after my walk home from work while partaking of the spectacular views.
Since I graduated, I have been looking for a job in and out of state. Most in-state job openings were in this same beautiful city. That's the dream—to live and work in the city, especially this city. As irony would have it, I came home that same day to a job offer in my inbox in a town about 50 miles from these gorgeous condos and this lively city. By the end of the day, I had a second offer in the same town 50 miles away, and that's the offer I accepted. I've been at this fabulous new job in a town I didn't expect to work in for almost two months now, and I've moved to a nearby town where I certainly never thought I would live. Here's the thing—it's all good. It's all really good. I love the job, and I love my new place. The town where I work is really great too; it's just not the high-rise condo type of a town. So for the time being, I'm setting aside that high-rise life for a great job in another good place.
While there have been plenty of times when things work out just the way I wanted them to, there have been other times when I have set a dream aside in my life. Often that deferred dream fades into oblivion because reality is better than whatever the original dream was. Sometimes the dream is ever-present, waiting in the shadows until the right time to venture into the light. Occasionally, I wonder why reality isn't closer to the dream I set aside or why the timing isn't right for this dream or that dream, but I still get those blessed moments occasionally where I know I am where I'm supposed to be.
In many ways, this experience is a little bit of all of those times, and so I have set that dream aside in the ever-present shadows for now. Who knows? Maybe it will be one that fades into oblivion, or maybe it will be one that finds a time to reappear at some future date. But for now I've decided to bask in the great, albeit unexpected, life before me.
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