And if you asked me right at that moment, "What will your life look like in 2013?"A cartoon cloud-bubble would have sprouted above my head. In it would be me, in a "Home Depot commercial" kitchen, with voluptuous supermodel hair, high heels, & an adorable, 6-month-old baby boy on my hip (he already has a name which I will not reveal)... Husband would be in his first year of medical school, wearing scrubs and a white coat all day long, and I would refer to him (always) as "Dr. Curtis" ...while I bake delicious, Pinterest meals every evening for dinner.
If you know us... this is clearly not the reality (my hair is super flat, I almost never wear heels, and I cook a "real dinner" maybe twice a month.) For a long, long, long while [ever since 4.5 years ago when we got married] the plan was to graduate college, me to work for a year until husband started medical school in Texas (or somewhere warm) and then start our family. There was never really a plan B. That is... until 6 months ago. That's when the plan changed to: It's been a year, and Natalie is still working, with no baby, and husband now wants to be a physician assistant... or a physical therapist... or an athletic trainer...or...
We recently had what I like to call a "mid-twenties life crisis." AKA: when all of the sudden you realize that you want something else for your life, but you aren't exactly sure what that should be.
It's scary at first. Big changes are actually quite frightening. All your "best laid plans", dreams, and cloud-bubble visions of the future suddenly vanish. Poof! They're gone. You realize now you have the ability to make that picture whatever you want. It doesn't have to be what you always imagined. Your future is limitless. You could live anywhere, be... anything. The options and freedom are exciting, but also overwhelming. daunting. exhausting. It's all up to US to decide what that picture of the future should become.
Am I getting too deep?
Sorry. That happens in my brain sometimes. I think too much.
Well, the point of this post is to announce that my pre-medical, future surgeon husband has officially made a career change. He realized that the main reason he wanted to be a doctor wasn't the right one. And if your heart isn't completely dedicated, you probably wont last through 10 more years of medical school, or even through studying for the MCAT.
So in the midst of our mid-twenties life crisis... we realized that his plan was silly. He should just follow his heart, wherever that may lead. Then he can spend his whole life doing what he loves! [Not what the old plan said he was supposed to do.]
I think that's how God guides us sometimes. When things don't work out, it's because he has a different plan for us. We are destined for something else.
So with that... I'm happy (& excited) to announce another revision. We are now on to Plan C:
Husband, the College Football Coach (with a Masters Degree in Sport Management)
Once we officially made this decision, I have never seen a happier husband!
And believe me, I've seen plenty of the opposite: depressed, frustrated, angry husbands that didn't do what they loved, and chose a job that would make more money instead. It's sad. It affects every other aspect of life. They have beautiful, immaculate, gorgeous, Martha Stewart homes, luxury edition cars, the best of everything... but yet, they're still unhappy and unfulfilled. There's a spark and a glow that's missing. You can see it in their eyes. (Totally not saying that all wealthy people are unfulfilled, just the ones that choose "money-making" jobs for the wrong reasons.)
I would choose genuine happiness and fulfillment over money, every.single.time. To be 100% honest, if I live in an average house, with old, used cars and last season's clearance-rack clothes from Target for the rest of my life... as long as I have a happy, loving husband (who lets me save up money to travel) - that really is my happily ever after.
I'm just extremely grateful we figured this whole mess out BEFORE medical school and BEFORE we went into thousands of dollars of debt. Oh, what a relief!
If there is one thing husband might love more than me... it's football. And luckily, it's one of my favorite sports to watch (and play!) - because I have a feeling I will be attending a lot of games.
My cloud-bubble future just traded "husband in scrubs and a white coat," for "husband on the sidelines, with a headset and a clipboard." And I'm so excited about it!! We have already narrowed it down to three schools: two in Ohio and one in southern Kentucky, just north of Nashville. We shall see what the future holds!
Coach Curtis... I love the sound of that. It just feels right.
Oh, and hopefully that baby, and life of cooking delicious, Pinterest dinners is still somewhere in the future too.
That sounds a lot like our life! ha! (minus the med school and football coaching, but you get the idea.) It never works out how we picture it in our heads, but hopefully it will just be even better!
ReplyDeleteCool story, it's funny where life takes us. And props for wanting your husband to be happy. It seems like the media expects wives to be shews and only want their husbands to be rich.
ReplyDeleteLife will always throw you for a loop, but I honesty cannot think of a better job for Chris! If feels like adult life has a slow start sometimes, but we will all get there eventually! So happy for you guys! We lived in Nashville a few years ago and LOVED IT. Can't think of a single thing we disliked about the area (except maybe the major flood we lived there through). The Lord always has a better plan in store than we can imagine, so you will be exactly where you're supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. I'm glad you guys know what you want now. My dad was in a Doctorate program at OSU for 7.5 years before switching to medical school. Life is never the picture bubble you have in your head.
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