What Challenges Lie Ahead

I continually am amazed at how much I've seen and overcome in the past 6 years even. To overcome being on the verge of academic probation to a near B average is remarkable for anyone, let alone an individual with autism. That whole time, I have been working (close to 30 hours including volunteering a week typically, including most of this term), going to Christian activities such as InterVaristy and doing activities with various churches, exercising quite a bit (in many various capacities), working towards independence at various levels, hanging out with various friends, going to class and excelling, doing Service-Learning, and drinking lots of coffee. However, I am not satisfied with the way things are. I want to do more. I long to do more. I never will be satisfied until I'm on my own without government funding, in a career, with reliable transportation, having a college degree (let's be honest, anything less would be unmistakeably a failure), and gained a strong commitment to various leadership agencies. To do this, I need to commit to working hard, never be satisfied with OK, never be complacent, and continue striving towards the goal. Living the dream right now is crazy-busy (self-imposed, I suppose) but doable. It's easy now, but it won't be easy once I get to a point of graduation from these steps of where I'm at. These challenges are sure to be implied as tough- I have to work at these things everyday and I have to watch out for opportunities for activism and charity as well as sometimes skipping fun items to be responsible. I've seen a whole lot in the past 6 years, never mind the last 29, and I continually am amazed at how much I've learned. I will continue to do so, and little things don't bother me as much and I'm slowly working through issues I've had in the past. I've had a lot of failures- as a Christian, as an autistic, as a friend, as a person. I lived through a series of roommates that were interesting and scary, but I didn't see any opportunities for better until the one I have now. I have been through a few interesting friendships and relationships and have dealings with some of them still, but I'm slowly working things out. I will probably never go to some of the church organizations and will probably continue to redefine my leadership styles in the future by weeding out some not so important things to make room for the super-important items and will probably never get to some of my dreams, but that's OK. I always have and always will continue to give it my all. Stay tuned for the next topic: the value of leadership as an autistic individual in an outsiders world.