I'm not sure if it's a sign of getting older when you start evaluating the decisions you have made in life, and their sometimes inevitable outcomes, nevertheless, this is something I have thought about just recently..
I considered five decisions I've made that have altered the path of my life and resulted in something incredibly positive happening to me. I'm not sure if five is a particularly low or high number for life altering decisions, it was just a number that came to mind when I started the thought process.
I felt it would probably make more sense to adjust them in my mind into chronological order, after all that is the way your life path is affected. Nothing one does today can change what happened yesterday. I cannot say with total conviction that had I not done any one of these things the rest would not have followed, but that isn't something I can put to the test (unless I ever get to meet the infinite number of me's living in an infinite number of parallel universes! See my August 2011 post Existence: Is there more than one me? http://tinypiney.blogspot.com/2011/08/existence-is-there-more-than-one-me.html). Here goes. The List:
- Moving to Spain
- Getting a dog named Indiana
- Not getting married
- Buying my property
- Going to university
So breaking the list down:
Moving to Spain:
Had I not moved to Spain back in 2001 at the age of 20 I would not have the following in my life:
- Friends for life
- A selection of great friends and acquaintances from around the world, many of whom I can still count on today even if it is just to put a smile on my face and make me feel humanity isn't all bad!
- Experience of living in another country
- Although Spain's culture nowadays isn't all that far removed from the UK (especially in the South), the experience of living in another country with another language and way of life taught me more about the world than I could ever learn from books. I don't believe that going on holiday for a few weeks a year will ever teach you enough. I don't even believe that travelling from place to place around the world for a couple of years will make you appreciate fully how different people are and how varied or even vivacious life can be.
- Independence from my parents
- Until I moved to Spain I had never lived by myself away from my family home. Many people nowadays don't get to find out what this is like until they are well into their mid to late 20's. However, I'm glad I made this leap so early. Your parents give you a lot of things in life no matter how unspoilt you are, and the wake up call that comes with the realisation of "Oh crap, I've drunk all my money away and now can't eat for a week", is something you never forget. Needless to say, by the time I moved back to the UK I had a firm grasp on the concept of living to my means.
- Indiana
- Had I never moved to Spain, I would never have gotten the totally wonderful and adorable dog that is Indiana. For that reason alone, I am committed to the choice I made when I said good-bye to the UK for 3 years.
Getting a dog named Indiana
I'm not sure how much explaining this decision needs. I got a dog one day. We named him Indiana. He is the single best thing in my life and has been ever since that day. Getting Indie has not lead me to make any further un-regrettable decisions (to my knowledge). My commitment to Indie is unfaltering, not only did I not give him up when times got hard in Spain, but I moved him back to the UK with me. Neither are decisions I regret! Indie is simply adorable and by far my best friend in the world, no matter how sad a person that makes me sound! Lol.
Not getting married
I'm not going to say too much on this one because it's an incredibly personal decision that didn't/doesn't just involve me. All I will say is it gave me a chance to re-evaluate every aspect of my life and lead me to the eventual conclusion that, other than my family, there really were not too many aspects that I was happy with. This most definitely caused me to realise that I wanted to do something different/more with my life which in turn lead to decision number 5, but we're not there yet!
Buying my own property
As much as I love my parents, moving back home was one of the most difficult things I had ever done. Living under the same roof as my parents really puts a great deal of strain on our relationship. I firmly believe that we ALL like each other a whole lot more when I am living away from home! Here's some other reasons why buying my own property was a good decision:
- Getting on the property ladder
- It was mentioned to me when I was thinking about buying my flat that I may be better off renting. My reply was "but why?" and I think I was right to ask. There are no positives to renting when you have money in the bank to put towards a deposit.
- My own space
- There is just something about having a place to call your own. Yes the bank still owns a huge chunk of my flat but I'm paying them money to one day be able to call it my own, in it's entirety. I would say you can't put a price on that, but clearly you can!
- I spent my time in Spain living with countless flatmates. It's stressful beyond belief. When you're young, you're selfish. No one can argue that. Even the most level headed young person still goes out, gets drunk occasionally and doesn't feel like doing the washing up right away. Hell, even now sometimes I don't feel like putting my plate in the dishwasher right away, and I don't have to all because I have a place that I live in by myself (and Indie doesn't care!).
- Independence
- I don't have to tell anyone where I am, who I'm with or when I'll be home. It's liberating (well it would be if I hadn't already been liberated at the age of 20, now I'm just used to it. That was actually one of the main sources of friction when moving back home after living away for so long! Some habits are hard to break!).
- University
- Had I not bought this flat, going back to university would have meant moving back home or not going to university at all. So yes this decision affected the choice I made about going back to university in a positive way (even if it does mean I have a mortgage to pay as a poor student. I make it work thanks to all the lessons I learnt about budgeting whilst living in Spain!).
Going to university
I, for as long as I can remember, HATED my job. When I started working in London as an assistant at the young age of 18, working in an office was the last thing I wanted to do. However, it paid the bills (well it gave me money to spend on drinking and going out which was all I cared about at that age). In all honesty I sold out. I should have gone to university then, but I had discovered going out drinking and I had found out what young love felt like. I made the decision to go and get employed, and that's what I did.
After moving back to the UK from Spain I ended up finding full time employment back in London as a Personal Assistant. Yet again falling back into a job I disliked. However, from 2004 until 2009 I stuck with it. I may have changed companies and industries but the job remained, in essence, very similar. Working for people who treated me as though I were dumb. Assuming all too frequently that the highlight of my day would be to go and get them a sandwich. However, I have that crappy career to thank for the fact that I own a property and a car. I guess it wasn't all bad.
In September 2009 I walked out of the groupm offices at 101 St Martin's Lane, and not once have I looked back. There have been a few bumps in the road up until now (I am currently in my third year on campus, and I am a second year biomedical science undergraduate) however I think I can safely say not one of those bumps has been related to my decision to go to university. I'm beyond happy and achieving what I should have believed all along I could achieve (with a couple of exceptions that were bump related!). In my first 2 years on campus I have achieved First Class marks (over 70%) and a placement at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital's Cellular Pathology Department commencing October 2012. I hope to continue to gain a First Class Hons BSc in 2014.
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| My interim marks statement up to the end of my first year as an undergrad |
Who knows what choices the decision to go to university will affect in the future. I'll be sure to keep you updated!