Ever since April of 2009, I have been working on my Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (for those that I have told numerous times, yet seem to always forget :) and ever since that day, the work has not stopped! Lately my life has been one filled with a tremendous amount of schoolwork; so much in fact, that I was starting to wonder what it was like to be engaged in something other than academic assignments. Recently I finished compiling a dense project known as a Clinical Competency report and this is essentially the crux of my program. This involved my observations in the assessment and treatment of a client at m practicum site; needless to say, this project took me several months to work on and complete.
With the project finished and graded and my next class starting at a later date, I now find myself wandering aimlessly through the house (or the yard) feeling like I should be studying or typing or doing something to work towards a deadline! I could always be studying up for the next class in a couple of weeks, but lets face it, a chronic procrastinator works better with a tight deadline and 3 weeks is still a much too far away time frame that doesn't deserve my anxiety...yet. This recent turn of events have left me wondering what it will be like after I graduate. Will I wander aimlessly around my neighborhood or will this be the time for me to embark on learning a new hobby? It's been so long since I've had anything remotely close to a hobby, so my doors are open for anything new and exciting. I get the sneaky suspicion thought that I might feel incomplete when not enrolled in school; I mean when I sit down and think about it, I have been involved in institutionalized learning for the past 20 years of my life....that's a big deal...and not a habit that can be easily replaced I'm thinking...oh well.
My thoughts also turn to those in similar situations who end up graduating from higher learning with the feeling that they're incomplete unless they're submitting assignments and engaging in mandatory readings all before a selected deadline. I already have the fear of becoming a "professional student" and the insane thing is, I think sometimes I would be okay with that! Then I'm reminded of the average-sized house that I owe in student loans and reality sets back in....
In correlation, I wonder what would happen- or how different my life would be- if I put as much study and effort into furthering my relationship with Christ as I did with school. Needless to say this realization was met with surprise and yes, even shame when I thought about how my spiritual life could be different. In this fast-paced world, it's so easy to assume that we have more important things to do or we're too busy accomplishing tasks that NEED to done by a certain date, but the fact of the matter is, we become so used to the busyness and habits that it becomes easy to push the important things to a back burner. Remember to slow down.......maybe even stop.....breath.....focus on what's important.
