What’s the best and worst thing that could happen to you this year? Surely that question has crossed all our minds at some point during January, the month of resolutions, hopes, and dreams. Let’s see what we all came up with! We’ve purposely excluded a long list of actually terrible things that could befall us, like death and cancer, because, well it’s still the beginning of a new year and we ain’t got time for that kind of negativity.
For me, as a forever student, years are structured around the fall and spring. When I think of next year, I automatically think of the fall. But even though it is still pretty far away, I am still thinking every day about ‘next year’. I think that the coming year will be a strange one for me. I will be (God willing) finished with my PhD by sometime this summer, but I don’t know what the next step after that is yet. I would like to have some sort of neat tidy plan for the coming year— for me, this would mean something like having a job offer of some sort, or a post doctoral position, or the like. I suppose we could put that in the category of ‘good’ things that could happen to me. But somehow I doubt things will be quite so clear cut and tidy. I have a feeling that the next year will be kind of liminal. I will have finished my degree but I won’t be out of Oxford quite yet and I won’t have any type of real job (although I probably will be able to keep my low-paying piece-meal teaching job). It will probably be a time of applications and thinking seriously about where I want the next few years of my life to take me. What would I like? I would really like to get an academic position that will pay my bills in an exciting new place. Ireland, Germany, Iceland, Canada? I have the travel bug and I would want to try a new place full of new experiences. More than anything, it is stressful to not have anything sorted. I so look forward to getting the letter that says ‘Congratulations. You have been accepted. Come join us.’ On the side what I don’t want to happen… well that is hard to say. I worry about fizzling out as an academic.. finding out that there probably won’t be any job.. or feeling like I missed my opportunities at getting one. I guess what I am most worried about is feeling too late— as though there were things I needed to be doing, right now, that I didn’t do and somehow I missed my chance. But really, although I don’t want that to happen, I also want to be open to changes in my life. I believe that sometimes what we think we want is not what God has planned. Sometimes the ‘worst thing that can happen’ ends up being the best. So I try not to worry. Even if sometimes I forget it.. I do have faith that it will all be okay in end.
–Ariel
For Christmas this year one of my housemates bought us all wish bracelets, little pieces of string with a small charm that we wear until they break off. The wish we made as we tied them on is said to come true when the string breaks, and as my friend tied mine on I really struggled with what to wish for. How do you choose one thing? Do you go for realistic or ideal?
In terms of things I can change, I really want to work on being more joyful this year and I’d love to find ways to appreciate the people around me more instead of faulting them for being themselves.
In a perfect world, our country would find a way to talk about our different opinions in positive and understanding ways – I’m tired of insults and threats instead of growth and progress.
If I focus on my career, the best thing that could happen would be for our little company to be bought for a few million dollars. I’d pocket a decent chunk of change and could choose whether to stay on and help it grow or bail and start a new project. The worst thing that could happen for my social life would be to lose my confidence – I’ll never keep friends or meet people if I’m not secure in who I am.
Bah, this is hard, I’m just going to pick one. The worst thing that could happen to me this year would be to not change at all and be in the same place I am now. The best thing would be to be handed a free trip to see Hamilton on Broadway with the original cast.
–Aurora
Best and worst. Well, ignoring all the obviously amazing and terrible things that could happen to us, my thoughts on the idea right now are consistent with my last post—starting a family. I feel like we got the ball rolling this January by going off birth control, and now it’s a waiting game. Waiting for the right time to actually try, waiting to see if and when we are successful, and then waiting for the great adventure of parenthood to begin. The best thing that could happen would be that I got pregnant. And, if we’re talking about perfection, a due date next March or April would be nice. The worst would be if the end of the year came and we still weren’t pregnant. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to let go of an idea once I’ve got it in my head, so now that I’ve made up my mind to have a baby, it needs to happen. Being thwarted in that through all of 2016 would leave me feeling helpless. I mean, I know I am when it comes to things like this, but experiencing infertility would definitely challenge me in a way I’ve never been challenged before. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!
–Cindy
It’s hard for me to think of the best and worst things that could happen this year. First of all, I don’t want to imagine the worst, and second, I almost have too many things that would be the best and that I’m hoping will happen.
I would love to be able to buy our own place and start a family (I know, you think I’m just jumping on Cindy’s bandwagon). However, reality tells me that is not likely. I can’t convince my husband to be ready to start a family until he feels we are financially stable enough. But he’s been saying that for the past two years and I’m tired of the argument. Because personally I’ve been starting to create a vision of having our own kid and working up to be a foster parent. I even asked my husband if he would consider it. I don’t know where the idea started exactly but it’s been on my heart. Unfortunately, he is getting ready to start a two year school program, which I fear will push my dreams back even more.
As for the worst that could happen, as I said I don’t really want to theorize on that. So I’ll just say that I want to make this year count, so the worst would be if I just let it pass by without any passion on my part.
–Snow
I love that you are thinking about someday adopting a foster child, Snow! I actually think about the same thing (someday in the future, of course). I would really love to have my own baby– that’s a part of life I would love to be able to experience. But I also have seriously thought about either adoption or fostering a child in addition. It seems like there just about isn’t anything bigger or more important you can do in the world than give someone a loving home who wouldn’t have had one before.