Folks are about as happy...

as they make up their minds to be. Do you know that quote? I think it's Abe Lincoln that said it. I had coffee with a colleague this morning, and after our work-related discussion we chatted it up about working here in our college town. You see, my friend/colleague moved here over 11 years ago to go to school, and as a student couldn't wait to get out of Dodge. Eleven years later, she's still here. At little ol' Luther, I knew plenty of people who felt the same way about leaving. I stuck around the year after graduation and worked a job that has been an important career catalyst for me. I didn't hate being there, in fact, I got to appreciate that little Iowa town for something more than a place to go to school. The reminder: live a zen-like in-the-moment kind of life and appreciate what you have. I've been afforded the same luxury here in Florida as my gig in Decorah. Most of my grad school colleagues have been and gone, on to greener and more exciting pastures. But I'm happy with my life here - working in the town where I earned my graduate education, and it's educating me in a myriad of new ways. So I say, don't make up your mind to be ready to skip town ASAP, be ready to roll with the tide, where ever it may take you, and learn something everyday, even if it's in a place you never expected.