Five Years

I hate getting this question:

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

My answer is always: "Hopefully alive."

Five years seems like such a long time out. But it's really not. I was reminded the other day just how short five years really is. I was sitting on the bus (imagine that, I was sitting on the bus doing some thinking), listening to my iPod when a song came on. It was a song that I had first heard abroad five years earlier when London first began flirting with me.

:: Flashback ::

I had just finished my workout at the YMCA at Barbican. It was my routine. I'd get up "early" to exercise (6:30 AM - that was early since the workday didn't start until 9:30. It gave me enough time to workout, shower, and still get to work on time. Oh how I miss those seven hour days). Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays was weightlifting at the YMCA. Barbican was only a few stops away on the Metropolitan or Circle lines from our flat at Aldgate. Tuesdays and Thursdays were my running days. It was a treat getting run down along the Thames, passing the Tower of London, St. Paul's, and finally reaching London Bridge before turning around and heading back.

The weightlifting days were always my favorite. It generally wasn't crowded, but there was a gym rat that always argued with one of the YMCA employees about who was better - Arsenal or Chelsea. I, of course, kept my mouth shut because I was a Man U fan. But whenever Arsenal and Chelsea played, the stakes were high. The workday after the game, the fan of the losing team had to wear the other team's jersey. Classic humiliation.

Anyway, back to the story. I just got on the Circle Line train to get to work. It was quite a long ride - nine stops to get to Temple. I was at the front of the train because it was less crowded. I almost always got a seat. I was sitting there listening to my old school discman trying not to fall asleep (I almost always fell asleep. Like I said, I got up early. It was just a wonder that I managed to wake up in time to get off at my stop).

The beginning of the song didn't help me stay awake. In fact, it pushed me closer to a state of unconsciousness (with my mouth open and the drool dripping down my shirt...). But after listening to the first few lines of the song, I perked up because I realized this song could be applicable to my life.

And it instantaneously became one of "those" songs. It was one of those songs that I started over even before it had ended because I didn't really listen to the words. I had heard the words, but I hadn't listened to them. With these songs I feel it is imperative to listen to the words before moving on to the next song. That really just means that I listen to part of the song over and over and over and over and over until I reach my destination. Yep, it was one of those songs. And it became my favorite song.

:: Back to the now ::

Five years. Hard to believe. Would I have guessed that I would have gone back to the city I fell in love with and moved back to Houston? No. Would I have guessed that we would visit 28 countries during that time? No. Would I have guessed that I would have been married. Well, yeah. That was a given (assuming a certain special someone gave the right answer). Would I have guessed that I'd have made it through the largest hurricane on record relatively unscathed? Not really. I mean, a hurricane, yes. A huge hurricane, no. And would I have guessed I would have a kid? No. Hell, I'm still a kid. But I digress.

So here's what I got to thinking. With everything that I have done in the past five years, where will I be after the next five? Who knows, but I have a feeling my threadbare gypsy soul will have something to do with it.