Quote to think about over your weekend...

"You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing."

-Arthur Ashe

And no, I'm not just using this quote because I'm in a tennis phase right now. Actually, it was in my Kona Kase this month, and the quote really spoke to me, so I wanted to share it with all of you.

I think our society is too focused on the end result of everything you do, and I definitely have lived a lot of my life this way. Taking tests in school was to get straight As; whether I absorbed and learned the information wasn't the #1 focus (hence why calculus still befuddles me). Going to high school and being valedictorian was to get into a great college, not to actually enjoy and be proud of my teenage years of youth.

But, I am proud that I have changed that. While a lot of people have jobs they don't like but do it for the money or prestige, I'm very glad to be able to say that I love my job. No, I'm not a millionaire, but I can still support myself and splurge every once in a while without breaking the bank. And even though society is breathing down my neck to get married ("You're in your mid-20's! Other people have babies by now! You need a man!"), I'm just enjoying my life as it is right now. I am having so much fun as a single, young woman living in a city, and I am so happy where I am at in my life. I'm not going to focus on what's next, or what's missing that I need to get or achieve...I'm enjoying the present, right here, right now.

So Ashe is right. "Get to the stage in life" where living your life to be happy is more important to you than earning six figures or doing a job that pleases everyone else but you. If you want to quit the job you hate and go back to school for a different passion, do it! The only judge for the game of Life is God, and I'd like to think He cares more about my happiness than the amount of money in my bank account or if I met societal norms throughout my existence. If you're happy, you win!