Milestones. What do they mean?

A friend of mine (who just became a mom for the first time) was sharing stories about different milestones her son has reached. Most of them were things I would expect - rolling over, holding his weight for a set amount of time, reacting to stories… the usual (Side note: I would still really love to learn how to spell the shortened version of usual). One that stood out to me was how excited she was about her 5 month old interacting with his toes. Prior to talking with her about its significance, I would have assumed that interaction would go unnoticed; it wouldn't stand out as a milestone.

Naturally, that led me to reflect on my own milestones. As every girl at 16 does, I had a very defined timeline filled with the obvious milestones. Graduate from high school, go to a great college, fall in love, get a degree, get married, find a job, have some kids, become "the boss" at a young age...

Hellooooo ten years later. While I have celebrated several of those "milestones," it is amazing how much my priorities have changed. What I define as a milestone now, I wouldn't have understood even six months ago.

I truly believe that there were subtle stepping stones (say that three times fast) along the way to help me define what is important, and what can wait. I graduated high school, I went to an amazing college, I fell in love, I earned a degree, I moved to a big city, and I started my first job. This is where I began to understand that change is a good thing, and I can decide what to consider a milestone for myself, and celebrate it however I want to.

I took a big chance at the end of last year, and packed up my life to move to a new city for a new job. I struggled for a couple of months in Raleigh both personally and professionally to establish a routine and a familiarity with totally new surroundings. It was actually pretty recently that I started to feel really good about… everything. And THAT is a huge milestone, in my book.

The relationship I have now with Dock, Dizz and Bub, as you know, is beyond incredible. Milestone. Feeling confident about myself as a professional. Milestone. Finally letting go of someone who loves to disappoint me. Milestone. Trusting myself in the decisions I am making. Milestone. Maintaining a budget. Milestone. (Huge milestone. Going from bartending cash in the pocket whenever I wanted to a paycheck took a while to get used to)

The list goes on.

This move sort of forced me to grow up. Not in a harsh manner, but in more of an accountability way. And with that, I have become hugely self aware of what is important and what is not. (Milestone)

I have no idea what will happen next. What I do know is that I am already excited for it.