Never Too Late
Over the past 2 weeks, I've found myself feeling a sense of nostalgia for the final month and a half of college. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since I was finishing up my time at Baylor (not to mention all that has changed since then). When I look back on my final semester at Baylor, it was a semester of changes, of reflections, and a race to graduation. The final semester of college for me meant making a few defining changes in my life. Those changes included switching the track/area within my major, changing how I was spending my Saturday mornings, and changing how I was spending my Sunday mornings.
For the majority of my time in college, I was on a sales track within my major (there were also tracks in sponsorship and in CRM/analytics). Following a sales project in college and a summer internship in group sales, it became abundantly clear that sales was not the right role for me. That meant talking to my professors about it at the start of the semester and switching over to CRM and analytics, a more "behind-the-scenes" role, so to speak. Fortunately, this switch didn't impact my graduation date. On one hand, I found myself regretting that I had made this switch so late in my college time and wished I had realized this sooner. On the other hand, I was glad that I realized this while I was still in college and still had time before graduation.
The way that I would spend my Saturday mornings in college would vary. Some Saturday mornings I would sleep in until the dining hall opened. Other Saturday mornings would mean going to the library to do homework/study, watch college football/basketball, walk around the Baylor campus, or walk to a Shipley's and get donuts. As the final semester rolled around, I finally found my ideal way to spend a Saturday morning: grab breakfast at Chick-fil-a or Shipley and head over to Common Grounds when it opened at 8 AM. There, I would get coffee and hang out until college football kicked off. I would get up on these Saturday mornings by 7:15 to time it so that I could walk over to a breakfast place first and then walk over to Common Grounds when it opened so that I could beat the crowds and get a nice spot. It's amazing to think I was getting up earlier on Saturdays than I was on weekdays, but it was something that I truly enjoyed doing. And it was something that I wish I had done more frequently earlier on.
Changing my track within my major was a big change to make in college and the way I spent Saturday mornings was a fun and more trivial change to make. That said, the biggest and most meaningful change I made in the last semester of college was how I spent Sunday mornings. For a majority of that semester (as well as the semester before it), I stopped going to church on Sunday mornings. The reasons why I stopped going varied (some as simple as not wanting to ask someone for a ride), though the end result was that I was either sleeping in or picking up groceries on Sunday mornings instead of going to church.
That is, until one of my professors invited me to come to church with him, his wife, and another classmate within my major. I agreed to go, as I wasn't exactly doing anything meaningful on my Sunday mornings. We would get to church early and he would lead us in a devotional and attended the service afterwards. In my heart, I knew I should have been going to church, but found reasons not to go. It's convicting to look back and think that I could find ways to get to a grocery store but not church on Sunday mornings. A few days after going to church, I went into that professor's office and came to the Lord. I had grown up in the church, but had never been able to pinpoint when I had accepted Christ. A few days ago, I hit the 3-year anniversary of praying that prayer.
For the final few weeks of college, I went to church on Sunday mornings again, excited to be back. I even take my parents the day after my college graduation. Through it all, I found myself wishing that I had started doing this earlier and I hadn't waited until the final month of college. I wish I had done it all sooner. Still, I was glad that I went for the Sundays that I did and am grateful that my professor invited me. Talk about a way to finish off college.
In each of these instances, I found myself wishing that I had made these changes in my life sooner, lamenting all the time that I had seemingly wasted and opportunities that I missed out on. And yet, the lesson learned through it all was this: it's never too late. It was never too late to switch tracks in my major, it was never too late to change the way I spent Saturday mornings, and it was never too late to go to church again. I can't imagine how different my life would be today if I had decided that it was "too late" in each of these instances.
I may have missed out on past opportunities, but I can take heart in knowing there's so many opportunities that I've encountered in my life since because of those changes I made. Changes that ultimately brought me to Houston and introduced me to some amazing people that have helped me grow or changes that have been coupled with going to the grocery store or going for a walk on Saturday mornings. Suddenly, Saturday mornings have become one of my favorite times - not for sleeping in, but for grocery shopping, walking, and getting coffee somewhere to hang out . Likewise, I look forward to Sunday mornings as well and going to church.
There are times in life where it can feel like it's too late to make a change. While that can be applicable in certain circumstances, one can't let that prevent oneself from making a change each time. Late or not, odds are one will be glad that the change was made. People will use the phrase "better late than never" and when I think about some of my experiences, this cliche definitely holds true. In a perfect world, we wouldn't be late every time (I know I wish I hadn't been so late with my changes), though we have to remember that this is all in God's control. And with that, sometimes we have to endure different seasons or trials to get to where we want to be or where we're called to be. And thankfully, because God's timing is perfect, it's never too late. It seem late to us, but it all works out for our good and God's glory.
To close, I can look back on these changes from 3 years ago and take heart in knowing each of them were the right changes to make, changes that weren't made too late. If anything, the fact that I was lamenting how long it took me to make these changes further drives home that they were the correct decisions. From them, I learned that sometimes you have to live one way or experience one thing to truly find out what you want -- and what you don't want. It also helps when we look at the past as a "sunk cost" and focus on doing the next right thing as opposed to fearing that we're too late. Three years ago I learned that it was never too late to make changes to one's life. Flash forward three years later, and I'm thankful that to have learned that lesson and be where I am today.
For the majority of my time in college, I was on a sales track within my major (there were also tracks in sponsorship and in CRM/analytics). Following a sales project in college and a summer internship in group sales, it became abundantly clear that sales was not the right role for me. That meant talking to my professors about it at the start of the semester and switching over to CRM and analytics, a more "behind-the-scenes" role, so to speak. Fortunately, this switch didn't impact my graduation date. On one hand, I found myself regretting that I had made this switch so late in my college time and wished I had realized this sooner. On the other hand, I was glad that I realized this while I was still in college and still had time before graduation.
The way that I would spend my Saturday mornings in college would vary. Some Saturday mornings I would sleep in until the dining hall opened. Other Saturday mornings would mean going to the library to do homework/study, watch college football/basketball, walk around the Baylor campus, or walk to a Shipley's and get donuts. As the final semester rolled around, I finally found my ideal way to spend a Saturday morning: grab breakfast at Chick-fil-a or Shipley and head over to Common Grounds when it opened at 8 AM. There, I would get coffee and hang out until college football kicked off. I would get up on these Saturday mornings by 7:15 to time it so that I could walk over to a breakfast place first and then walk over to Common Grounds when it opened so that I could beat the crowds and get a nice spot. It's amazing to think I was getting up earlier on Saturdays than I was on weekdays, but it was something that I truly enjoyed doing. And it was something that I wish I had done more frequently earlier on.
Changing my track within my major was a big change to make in college and the way I spent Saturday mornings was a fun and more trivial change to make. That said, the biggest and most meaningful change I made in the last semester of college was how I spent Sunday mornings. For a majority of that semester (as well as the semester before it), I stopped going to church on Sunday mornings. The reasons why I stopped going varied (some as simple as not wanting to ask someone for a ride), though the end result was that I was either sleeping in or picking up groceries on Sunday mornings instead of going to church.
That is, until one of my professors invited me to come to church with him, his wife, and another classmate within my major. I agreed to go, as I wasn't exactly doing anything meaningful on my Sunday mornings. We would get to church early and he would lead us in a devotional and attended the service afterwards. In my heart, I knew I should have been going to church, but found reasons not to go. It's convicting to look back and think that I could find ways to get to a grocery store but not church on Sunday mornings. A few days after going to church, I went into that professor's office and came to the Lord. I had grown up in the church, but had never been able to pinpoint when I had accepted Christ. A few days ago, I hit the 3-year anniversary of praying that prayer.
For the final few weeks of college, I went to church on Sunday mornings again, excited to be back. I even take my parents the day after my college graduation. Through it all, I found myself wishing that I had started doing this earlier and I hadn't waited until the final month of college. I wish I had done it all sooner. Still, I was glad that I went for the Sundays that I did and am grateful that my professor invited me. Talk about a way to finish off college.
In each of these instances, I found myself wishing that I had made these changes in my life sooner, lamenting all the time that I had seemingly wasted and opportunities that I missed out on. And yet, the lesson learned through it all was this: it's never too late. It was never too late to switch tracks in my major, it was never too late to change the way I spent Saturday mornings, and it was never too late to go to church again. I can't imagine how different my life would be today if I had decided that it was "too late" in each of these instances.
I may have missed out on past opportunities, but I can take heart in knowing there's so many opportunities that I've encountered in my life since because of those changes I made. Changes that ultimately brought me to Houston and introduced me to some amazing people that have helped me grow or changes that have been coupled with going to the grocery store or going for a walk on Saturday mornings. Suddenly, Saturday mornings have become one of my favorite times - not for sleeping in, but for grocery shopping, walking, and getting coffee somewhere to hang out . Likewise, I look forward to Sunday mornings as well and going to church.
There are times in life where it can feel like it's too late to make a change. While that can be applicable in certain circumstances, one can't let that prevent oneself from making a change each time. Late or not, odds are one will be glad that the change was made. People will use the phrase "better late than never" and when I think about some of my experiences, this cliche definitely holds true. In a perfect world, we wouldn't be late every time (I know I wish I hadn't been so late with my changes), though we have to remember that this is all in God's control. And with that, sometimes we have to endure different seasons or trials to get to where we want to be or where we're called to be. And thankfully, because God's timing is perfect, it's never too late. It seem late to us, but it all works out for our good and God's glory.
To close, I can look back on these changes from 3 years ago and take heart in knowing each of them were the right changes to make, changes that weren't made too late. If anything, the fact that I was lamenting how long it took me to make these changes further drives home that they were the correct decisions. From them, I learned that sometimes you have to live one way or experience one thing to truly find out what you want -- and what you don't want. It also helps when we look at the past as a "sunk cost" and focus on doing the next right thing as opposed to fearing that we're too late. Three years ago I learned that it was never too late to make changes to one's life. Flash forward three years later, and I'm thankful that to have learned that lesson and be where I am today.
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