Like An Old Friend

I am midway through Spring Semester 2025, and I feel like I have just woken up from a lucid dream. I am forty, jaded, and disillusioned. I had a tough time adjusting to the changes this semester. Fortunately, it is only the midway point through the semester. Working part-time was not a clever idea. Therefore, I am leaving my part-time job in healthcare for a full-time job in behavioral health (you’re like an old friend come and see again - Rancid). I have been wanting to return to the behavioral health field since I left Texas and now, I have that opportunity. My plan at the beginning of this semester was to work part-time and go to school full-time but that plan diminished like my account balance, so I had to pivot. Just some more challenges for a forty-year-old graduate student. I do not know if it is because I am in my forties, but my priorities have changed. I feel the necessity to take responsibility for my physical and mental health. Medical screenings and due dates are instinctively written in my planner. SSRIs have replaced alcohol, therapists have replaced bartenders, and implementing regular exercise and a DASH diet to combat cardiovascular health has become my new personal legend. Moreover, I started my search for camaraderie. I have not been able to foster the ability to create new friends in my forties and more since I moved from my hometown. I am learning that relationships are important, there are times to need to speak to someone other than your wife. Overall, I am excited about the unknown. I start my new job in a few weeks. And I have the sunshine and spring to look forward to. Like always, I will keep looking for what is golden and eternal.