Rash Decisions
This author is learning to let their loved ones live their own lives.
This author is learning to let their loved ones live their own lives.
Sometimes, people have to make the changes they can in order to make the changes they need. When my roommate decided to quit their job, seemingly out of the blue, I was a bit skeptical. They were midway through an apprenticeship at a hair salon after spending upwards of $20,000 and several years in beauty school. As a friend, I was concerned that they were letting rash decisions drastically alter the course of their life. This was a years-long investment cast aside and truthfully, I was not sure that the problems with their job—the long hours, the back pain from being on one’s feet all day—were specific to this trade. It’s easy to be excited about one’s potential in a new career without having to put hand to the plough, I thought. I wondered how the echoes of this choice would resonate six months into a new job, a year, a lifetime. Looking back, I was too negative. The truth is that my roommate needed to leave their workplace, if only to shake the restraints of habit and move on to something better. It’s easy to get bogged down in the daily grind. Sometimes, you just need to try something new. Is the grass often greener on new pastures? Yes. Does it get grazed down like the old? Sometimes.
Sometimes, you just need to try something new.
The truth is my roommate hasn’t been this happy in a long time. Not often do we get to stand at the precipice of our futures, weighing out potential routes into old age. It’s hard to watch someone you care for suddenly pivot from a life path they were once so excited about. Through the process, however, I’ve learned yet again that my friends are the pilots of their own destiny. They have their own desires, their own trajectories, and sometimes this means they make questionable decisions — decisions that I wouldn’t make myself. Slowly, I’m learning to let my loved ones live their own lives. It’s not easy, but it helps us stay close. I’m learning to meet my roommate where they’re at, not where I thought they were heading. Doing so has helped us plan our lives together, forever correcting our course into the future.