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The other night Mr. Blerd himself, along with a few old friends, met over dinner to catch up on old times. We had a great time getting reacquainted with faces that haven’t seen each other in a few years. We ate, drank, laughed, and joked; you know, the usual filling in the gaps of the time spent away from one another.

One of our friends raised a question that kind of stumbled me. She asked us to compare the responsibilities of yesteryear to those of today as it pertained to work and life. It wasn’t a hard question at all but I tripped over my answer because I didn’t know how to explain it. They say with age, you mature and I agree that most of us do; not all.  I replied back that I felt that I had more responsibilities back then than I do now. Although that might not be true because as an adult you inherit plenty more responsibilities than when in your youth, but it sure felt like I had more going on back then.

I was about 19 or 20 years old when I met some of these particular friends at this outing. That was almost 20 years ago. When you think about it, the pressure of defining who you want to be in life can be a long road traveled. When you’re a serious student of life, many easy decisions are amplified. So when we talk about responsibilities, at that point in time of transitioning into adulthood, you are basically learning your footing by being more responsible. After getting over the hump, responsibility just turns into a way of life. There’s no question of knowing what has to be taken care of since it becomes second nature that  everything that you are responsible for is handled when it’s supposed to be. Back then, school tuition, getting a job, family household obligations, choosing a career, etc.; those were some responsibilities that weighed me down. Some of these still exist but we are in a new time where we see room to improve, maneuver, address, rectify; adulthood does bring about some changes that we may have been too immature to have seen in our younger years.

While we dwelled on the past, it was acknowledged that those kids that were once under the same umbrella have now sprouted into responsible adults. It takes bravery to move on to the next chapters in life. Some of us were destined for greatness; some of our peers were not and have not excelled from their past. I’ve been called a failure before; not by these folks but it has been said to me and by my standards I am doing pretty damn good. As we were reminiscing, my former manager mentioned that he never fathomed that some of us would make the career decisions that we made but he was proud and I concur.

All in all, I can say that as the night progressed I realized that I am a different person; meaning I have additional features and qualities that extended me as a person from my youth. I just had a few more life experiences that shaped me into what I am today. To those that applaud me, thank you. For others who mentally kept me in that age bracket and couldn’t see my growth, don’t be mad. “It’s just a brand new kind of me.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSv1TIa58M]