A Decision Made at 18

“18 and Life” – Skid Row

When I was 18, I thought I was mature enough to know exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. According to our country (USA) I was an adult, I could fight in a war and vote for government officials, so that would mean that after turning 18 I had reached a decision-making maturity that would prevent me from ever making bad choices again...right? Wait hold up, so at 18 I was supposed to be able to choose the direction I wanted for the rest of my life, vote for who would lead our country, and fight for our country, yet I still couldn’t legally drink a beer…alright that’s a whole other matter not opening that up here.

Anyway, know that getting older does not prevent you from making stupid decisions, you’ll make plenty of them after turning 18. Thinking back to how many moronic, like “WTF” decisions I’ve made since turning 18, has made me realize that either: I’ve gotten worse at decision making (20’s might have been the golden decade for bad decisions) or I thought way too highly of my decision-making abilities at the age of 18.

Don’t believe me, here’s a few examples of bad decisions made post 18 years old

- Insulated Flannel Shirts…visualize it…flannel and insulated...thought I looked good

- Overalls…no I wasn’t on a farm

- A goal of drinking a case (not a 12pack but a case) of beer… in one night---because why?

- Drinking the night before my 4am Marine Mammals lab…on a boat, on the ocean

- Wearing Doc Martens in the winter, in the snow…there is no traction and I still mess this up

- Mouthing off to one of my bosses then almost getting fired for insubordination

- Getting into that car with those guys in Florida

- Dart nights at Sam and Timmy’s every Wednesday, for an entire semester…no I am not a dart master

These ‘tremendous’ decisions were all made after I chose to go to school to become a Marine Biologist, and yes some of those decisions may have been the reason I was a Super-Duper Senior when I graduated. Then I used that degree to land a job in the environmental lab field, stayed there for ten years, and was miserable for about 60% of those years. You can change your life’s direction at any age, I changed mine at the age of 33, even though I had a mortgage to pay and I had spent the last 10 years climbing that proverbial ‘corporate’ ladder.

But What About the Money

Don’t let the idea that you paid a significant amount of money to gain a degree for the job you’re working at now, chain you to that job for the rest of your life. Be like me, way happier in life, loving my career and still paying off that student loan for a BS in Marine Biology. That money did not go to waste, NO, I’ve got great ice-breakers for party’s; like the prehensile (look it up, I paid good money for that knowledge) penises of dolphins or how scorpions dance before laying their spermatophore, totally worth the tens of thousands of dollars if you ask me.

Still think that sticking to that teenage decision and the money spent is worth your current job dissatisfaction? Fine you want me to get morbid cause I’ll go there. Put yourself 30-40 years into the future on your hovering (future remember) death bed, will you be smiling thinking that you’re so happy you stayed with that unfulfilling, soul sucking, stress inducing job, because you paid and worked hard for the degree that got you that job? Maybe your thoughts will not even go to your job, maybe your life outside of work was so fantastic that it overshadows anything at work. Maybe you lay there, mouth open (I don’t know why but I always envision a mouth being open when on a death bed) bleary eyed with tears of regret and disbelief that you literally spent most of your life feeling: dread of going to work, stressed and depressed while at work, and empty and numb when leaving work….again all this with your mouth open. Is that vision worth the money spent on an education based on a decision when you weren’t even mature enough to drink? Am I getting through to you, are you finally understanding that no one would pay money to have that vision, yet perhaps your attachment to money is what will make that vision a reality?

Whatever it is that’s keeping you miserable is not worth it. If you’re getting paid a ton and still miserable, then it’s NOT WORTH IT. Listen, if someone asked you, if they could pay you $100,000 to make you miserable, stressed and depressed for a year would you really honestly say yes?

I know what’s coming next, “Fine Liz, then what am I supposed to do?” Be patient young grasshopper, we will get there, but for now…for now I just want you to start envisioning a life that would make you happy.

Elizabeth SimmonsJuly 17, 2020Comment