Anything Can Happen

I'm starting to gear up for another season of job searching. This just after a particularly grueling and demoralizing year of sending out job applications. So this post is for my future self, to remind myself that even in the darkest of hours that it's not the end of the world. Because no matter what happens with regard to my job search, I still have

1. My own health
   
2. A wonderful, loving husband who has always supported my decisions
   
3. Two healthy, intelligent and adorable children
   
4. A roof over our heads
   
5. Enough wealth to provide us food, power, necessities, and then some
   
6. Friends who care about me
   
7. Career options open to me other than academia
   
8. A life full of endless possibilities
   

We went to see Mary Poppins the Musical over the past weekend, and as cheesy as it sounds, I found the song "Anything Can Happen If You Let It" to be very uplifting. It's the part where Winifred realizes that she doesn't have to be stuck in the role that her husband and society have set out for her. So I can relate to her as a woman with big dreams. And as an astronomer, I can't help but find the bridge to speak directly to me:

If you reach for the stars all you get are the stars
but we've found a whole new spin
if you reach for the heavens
You get the stars thrown in

I don't have to be defined by the box that others try to put me in. I can choose my own life and my own happiness for myself.