See, I have a passion for scouting. I myself was a girl scout straight throughout high school, earned my silver award, and came SO close to completing my gold too. (one of those, if I only knew then what I know now situations...Oh well) I even asked for a life time membership for high school graduation, which has saved me a ton of money since by the way! After I finished college I had the opportunity to return to scouting as a leader and partnered with my old scout leader to head up a teen troop in my home town of Mansfield, MA. I spent eight years as a leader to these girls and can honestly say I LOVED every moment of it. (Yes L&L - even the drama in New Orleans)
As we were talking that night though, I couldn't help but remember back to my college days. I remember the insecurities, the uncertainty, the incredible need to put a name to your future career. One of their Mom's asked me though, "Jenn, when did you decide what it was that you were going to do for a career?"... and my honest answer to her was, I still haven't. I have no idea WHAT I want to be when I grow up, but I do know WHO I want to be. I wish I had known the difference between these two things sooner as it would have saved me a whole lot of stress and heartache.
A while back I wrote about this too in my post "Does what you do define you?" but even at that time a few months back I was still (am still) trying to figure it all out. I love that I get to help guide these young women and share with them the life lessons that I have learned. If I can instill just a little bit of confidence, knowledge or humility in each of them, then every knock on the door while I was in the bathroom and every night I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor was well worth it.
This is only the start, but here are some valuable pieces of advice that I'd like to share with my young friends from Troop 80-939 and with any young women out there who are open to learning from my experiences and mistakes. Here goes:
- Your twenties are the prime of your youth. You will likely never be as young, fit, attractive and care free as you are today. Enjoy it. Stop picking apart every last detail and get out there and have fun. I promise you, some day you will look back on the photos of today and say, "Man, I was HOT! I wish I knew it then..."
- Yes, college is hard. But just like High School was a stepping stone towards college... College is a stepping stone to your life. The only difference is that once you enter into the life part, you no longer get months off in the summer and winter like you do now. Take full advantage of those breaks. Live your life, get a tan, go ice skating on a random Tuesday. You will be glad you did.
- Live it up. Are you seeing a theme here...? Seriously, my twenties were the time of my life. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give up the experience of motherhood to do it again, but then again... When I am feeling super lame and my hubby and I decide that grocery shopping is an excellent Saturday night activity, I at least have all those wild days to look back on as a reminder that it wasn't always this way.
- Remember that you are never done learning from those around you. For some reason people in their twenties all of a sudden decide that they know more than God himself. I promise you that you do not. In fact, you probably are doing and saying things now that your mother will remind you of later in life. I am pretty sure I was a complete jack ass to my parents from the ages of 21-25. Save your self the future pain... Acknowledge that your parents know more about life than you do, regardless of whether or not you would choose the life they did. Unless you have walked the same path, you just never know what brought them where they are today. Not every crossing in life has a good path and a bad path to choose from. Sometimes there are only 3-4 bad choices available and we have to do our best to pick the lesser of all evils. Give your parents a break.
- You are going to have to earn your place. Yes, you will get your degree and you will get a job or an internship at some point. That does not mean that you no longer have to prove yourself. It is just an invitation to prove yourself in a certain place. Work hard, be a team player and don't be above the dirty work, at least not until you are well established. And by established, I mean you are the CEO of the company, literally.
- Find ways to appreciate your family. If you are blessed enough to have a family like I do, find ways to appreciate each and every person. You may not understand them all, but each and every one of them brings something of value to the table. Plus, if nothing else, they are your family and they will love you even when you are a jerk so play nice.
- Hold tight to your true friendships. Finding a real friend in life is extremely rare. Keeping them is even more so. If you find someone that you can truly connect with, make the effort to keep in touch. You can only control your end of the bargain... so make it your job to keep the friendship strong and forgive your true friends for their busy schedules.
- Lastly, remember that you don't have to have all the answers today. In fact, you may never have all the answers, period. Take the time to figure out what you can, ask questions when you can't and don't be afraid to look stupid. You look much smarter admitting to your uncertainties and mistakes than you do pretending.
For your viewing enjoyment, below is a photo of me headed off backpacking in High School with my girl scout troop as well as a photo of me with my teen troop a few years back when we took a service trip to New Orleans.
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