It All Lines Up

These are the last 24 hours that I will spend as a 16 year old. Tomorrow I turn 17, which would have been unthinkable just a year ago. My experiences in this past year have taught me that in life, things don't have to happen until you're ready. Every year in school they tell you "you'll have to learn this method now, because you will have to do a lot more next year." And every year they make us nervous by saying that. Even guidance counselors call us into meetings to freak us out about college, telling us that if we don't do certain things we won't be accepted (Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I swear it's not that far off). But what I've come to realize is that, once we make it to that next year that is supposed to be harder, we have been prepped and taught how to handle the greater workload. Those methods that we were taught have become second nature, so that we are able to move forward in our abilities. One year ago during winter break, I was spending the days taking Driver's Ed. At that point in my life, driving was just something in my imagination. In any dreams that I found myself driving, it was really just me sitting in the car while it moved itself, because I didn't yet understand how to even operate a car. My entire awareness was so different from what it is today. When I was 15, I couldn't even handle the idea of turning 17. It felt like I was growing up too fast. But now, I feel perfectly ready for it.

This also works for anything in the future that I may be worrying about. I know now that I don't have to think about it now because by the time it actually comes, I will be ready for it. No matter what it is, the universe will allow it into my life experience at the precise moment that I will be able to get the most out of it. It's really fun to know that life is perfectly lined up for you as you allow it to be.

So Christmas went well. We visited my grandparents and my grandmother cooked a fantastic meal. We watched that movie 3 Idiots again, which we now own. I got Ina Garten's new cookbook Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof, which has a lot of recipes and tips so that each one can be made perfectly the first time, and will hopefully be delicious enough that I will want to make it many times after. My brothers are happy because there's a recipe for caramelized bacon. It looks easy to make and fun too. I hope I have a lot of fun with this cookbook.