Goals for my 30s

I have professional and personal goals to accomplish in my 30s and what I learned in my 20s will definitely help me. The main thing I learned in my 20s was to be able to adapt to change. I set goals and tried to maintain a strict pathway to accomplish them. That’s not the wisest thing to do as life throws curveballs and changeups. Not willing to take alternative routes was detrimental.

I’m pretty clear on what I want professionally. My goals haven’t really changed, but life has preventing me from reaching them. I’m very persistent and feel I could only become more persistent as I get older. I am not very clear on what I want out of my personal life.

As the decade moves along, I'll be sure to update everyone on my progress.

Professional Goals :

• Masters in a program that will lead to growth in Higher Education (CSSA or Adult Education and Higher Education Leadership at OSU)
• I plan on working in higher education for a few more years after that for more experience.
• After I have garnered more experience in higher ed., I will begin to pursue my PhD.
• I have written a few short stories about my experience with MS. I want to turn that into a book and become a best-selling author. I’d actually just be happy if it got published.

Personal Goals:

• Sommelier. Ok, maybe not become a sommelier, but really understand wine making and train my palette to pick up subtle tastes.
• Rugby. Even though I am not 100% up to speed physically, I still want to continue to cultivate my skills on the pitch.
• Hiking. I love to do it and live in the perfect place for it. I want to get to know the terrain and really learn how to draw from the experience. Even with my difficulties walking, I have begun to do small, easy hikes like in McDonald Forest. I hope to be able to challenge myself more.
• With getting back to rugby and really taking up hiking, I hope to be in better shape than I ever was in my 20s. MS be damned.
• Children. I love them and really do think I’d be an awesome mom. However, I’m not sure I want a partner. I either have to be open to the idea of a partner or adopt once I am financially stable enough to be a single parent. Even with a partner, I’ll probably have to adopt since getting pregnant will be very difficult for me...even more so the older I get.
• This blogging experience has motivated me to start thinking about an MS blog. When I talk about my experience with MS, most people laugh instead of feeling sorry for me. I would much rather people laugh at me..err..or with me. I have been told that it may be nice to write a blog about MS that may help people cope with the experience. I’m always thankful for Fort’s blog about cancer. I read it when my mother was dying of cancer and it was very helpful to see strength in someone dealing with the disease. Fort's mother seems to be keeping it up to date even after her passing.