Surfacing

Slowly, I feel like I'm becoming more of an adult. I realize that legally and mentally, I've been there for a bit, but in terms of the things I am taking on? Huge growth in a short(er) amount of time.

New job - big.
Car payments - big.
Car insurance of my own - not quite so big, but still significant.

Individually, each of these is fairly "grown up," but I feel like I'm still moving in a more adult direction. I'm looking at apartments, planning my would-be budget for different living arrangements and looking at the growing cost of being an adult.

It's not cheap (in a financial sense), but it's certainly a rich experience. I feel like I've been in limbo for quite a while and now I've got the green light to floor it into the kind of life I want. It's only freaking me out a little.

That being said, with these newfound responsibilities, I'm finding it more of an imperative to take better care of myself. I ran two miles tonight, then swam for 25 minutes. I wanted to do some weights or exercises on my stability ball, but I called it quits -- just too tuckered out. I had honestly forgotten the kind of resistance swimming gives you -- no wonder Michael Phelps is in such amazing shape, right? He picked a good sport, I say.

Aside from that, I feel thankful for this. I feel deep gratitude for the opportunities -- that maybe by the time I run my next race (October 4th), I'll be in an apartment, paying my own bills again -- I'm really only looking forward to the sense of pride and accomplishment that really go along with taking care of yourself.

It's exciting, promising, challenging and terrifying all at once. But I couldn't be happier to know that it's just waiting for me, on my time, to go and grab it.

Life is good.