The difference between young and old

This is based on my opinion and is to be taken like everything else I say...Tongue in cheek...

When I was in my 20's I really expected life would always be changing. I like the idea of that. I've always thought that people who have the same job for 20 years were stagnant. I never want to be stagnant.

Now that I'm in my 30's I find myself having conversations with friends who have had the same philosophy as I have and we are saying "I just want to find a good job and stay with it." Now stagnant has become stable. Consistent is a good thing, instead of something that is for our parents.

I watched Rick Springfield sing "Jesse's girl" today and found out that he's back on a soap that he was on 23 years ago and he's releasing a new album of all cover songs. Songs that are "mellow and songs that he wished he had written." I look at him and think how sad, to be singing Jesse's girl still. Then I realize in a way that is what we strive for when we strive for consistent and stable, we are saying we want things to stay the same or at least not change much.

I hear people that are older then me talk about these "young folks who want everything starting out." I realize I'm in the middle. I wanted a lot starting out, but I didn't have a lot starting out. Now that I'm 11 years into our marriage we have more of the things that we wanted to have and we are settling down.

I've never liked the word settle. It implies (in my opinion) that there is more out there but you have "settled" for what you have. I don't ever want to settle. I want consistent and stable without settling. I want to be flexible and always looking for ways to improve and move forward and grow and learn. I don't know that I am achieving this. I know I am not achieving it at the rate I once was. I just don't want someone to look at me and think "How sad, still singing Jesse's song after all these years." I hope that Mr. Springfield is happy with his life and where it's led him. I can't say that it's bad, he's got a steady gig and is making money, so he must be happy. I just wonder at what point do you say, "okay, I'm done." I can do no more.

I found out today that a family I know of, through someone else--lost about 30k a year last year when the company he worked for took OT away from managers. He is still working the same hours that he's worked for years but getting 30 grand less a year to do it. The person who shared this with me said, sometimes when you've worked for a company so long, it's all you know you take a hit like that instead of looking elsewhere because it's too scary to look beyond that. I guess his dad worked for this company and retired from it, and it's the only job he's had since college as well (almost 20 yrs prob.) Would I be able to maintain with one company that long? Would I be willing to take a financial hit of that much? Does age really effect us so much that by 40 we are willing to settle with something like that happening and say, it's just life?

I don't know that I have the answers. I don't know if it's always an age thing or a personality thing. I'm just seeing stuff and wondering. I mean, I can honestly say that I was stuck in a rut of appreciating the stable environment of Citi that I didn't want dash to look other places. I wanted him to find a way to make a less then good fitting job work so we had a steady income. Me, queen of "I'm ready for a change. We can make anything work....just be happy." I am glad that dash is looking for another job. I hope that he either finds another job or finds a way to make citi work. I guess only time will tell, I just know that I am not old enough to want him stuck in a rut at 32 just because it's stable.