What Apartment Shopping Taught me about Careers
Dear Apartment Gods,
Please, oh please let us find a dog-friendly 2 bed/2 bath within walking distance of the L. We’d like parking included. We also wouldn’t mind granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and wood floors…equal sized bedrooms and new bathrooms…oh yeah, and keep us way under budget and within 4 block s of the park.
With Love, Nicole & Katie
I’m moving.
First let me say that apartment shopping is a HUGE pain in the butt. While I have loved seeing Katie almost every day for the past two weeks, along with the past two Sunday mornings (not a pretty sight), I’d prefer not to see her under these circumstances.
If you can imagine it, our apartment search consists of us driving the wrong way down one-way streets, relying way too heavily on my iPhone map to navigate our new neighborhood (which quite frankly is embarrassing considering we have lived here for 4 years), getting lost again, being scared to get out of the car at places listed as a “great deal!”, jumping into car after working with someone who had quite possibly used illegal substances right before our appointment, (there’s no doubt that guy HATED us)…you get the idea.
We know exactly what we want. But finding it is another story.
We find a place with the space we want, but it is 150 years old and falling apart. We find a gorgeous place that is modern and in the perfect location, but one bedroom is as big as a closet and doesn’t have a window.
I think if I’ve learned one thing over the past year, it’s that you just can’t have it all.
Perhaps this is a simple concept to most, but it wasn’t for me. I really thought you could “have it all” in an apartment, in a job, and in just about everything else.
Perhaps you are your own worst enemy, striving to have it all in a world where “perfect” just doesn’t exist.
My apartment search has mirrored that of job seeking and one’s career: it is almost impossible to find the whole package without a flaw. And at some point, you just have to pick one and go from there.
Letting go of perfection is bound to give you a happier and more fulfilling life and career. Embrace the imperfections. Give up on having it all. Live the life you imagined and have fun doing it!
