In 2002, if you'd asked me where I'd be 10 years from now, I would have told you with zero hesitation I'd be living in a big city, with a successful career in journalism, possibly married, most likely with no kids.

I had just graduated and was still naively assuming my degree would launch me out of the Maritimes and into the limelight someplace bigger and better. I envisioned a very Sex and the City life. I'd live in a high-rise condo. I'd wear pencil skirts, tucked-in blouses, and stiletto heels to work every day. I would walk very fast, hail cabs one-handed while clutching a to-go cup of coffee in the other hand, I'd have an office with a window and would eat my lunch on a park bench every day. I would go to Pilates after work and ride horses on weekends and I'd order take-out for dinner most nights, and eat it in front of a wide-screen TV with a bottle of wine. I imagined myself with very blonde hair.

Other than being a fast walker and drinking the occasional glass of wine in front of the television in the evenings, nothing has played out the way I'd once planned. I live in a two-storey house in a subdivision. I have a job I enjoy, but "account director" and "internationally renowned award-winning journalist" are quite different job titles. I'm married, I have a son, I have a dog. I'm not blonde.

I have a lot of love in my life every single day. Simple things make me just as happy as big things. A trip to the farmer's market, a fresh baked cinnamon bun and a cup of hot coffee, a quiet hour with a magazine, a walk in the park with the boys. I like our neighbourhood. I like being able to be at the beach in 40 minutes. I like not working 80 hour weeks.

I wonder, if things had worked out according to my old plan, would I be happy? Lonely? Would I have more money or less? More friends or fewer? More free time? Would things be easier or harder? Does anybody live their life according to plan?

I'm not going to worry about it. Things have a way of working out :)