Penelope Trunk writes a blog that is nominally about careers and career advice, but I really love her writing for how honest and personal it is about making choices in life. In a recent post about finding your place in life, she writes:

So the final step of finding out where you should be is looking at everyone’s life with a clear lens. Adult life is really hard. Finding out who we are, and finding someone to share our life with, and having kids and still having a life, and being able to pay for all of that: Impossible, really.

So you look around and see who is doing what part of that well. And you pick the sacrifices that they made. Because no life is perfect, but all lives have some things to offer. Be clear on what you’re choosing and what you’re giving up, and don’t pick anyone’s life if they tell you they have everything: they’re lying.

It’s so true. I don’t have everything in that list — “finding out who we are, and finding someone to share our life with, and having kids and still having a life, and being able to pay for all of that” — but I have enough of those things that I realize I am truly happy with who I am, who I have become, and where I’m going for now. I’ve made choices, I’ve given things up, things have happened to me — but all in all, I like my life, and I’m thankful for the things I have, and don’t hold onto regrets over the choices I’ve made or the things I don’t have.

Sorry for the string of sappy blog posts recently, but I’ve lately been awed and humbled by the gifts the universe has given me…