I'd guess her age at twenty-eight or so, the point where working women first taste success and realize they've been conned. A crucial moment - it's when the ache sets in. sometimes it leads to marriage and a family. Sometimes it spurs devotion to a cause. Men reach this point, too, of course, but it seldom results in major changes. That's how it happened for me in my late twenties, when it dawned on me that CTC was not just a temporary assignment. I weighed my alternatives, convinced myself I had none, and here I am - subsisting on smoked almonds, chasing miles. - Walter Kirn in Up in the Air

Family or devotion to a cause? Hmm. No wonder they both sound so appetizing,

When I read this jewel in an otherwise mildly entertaining book, I couldn't believe my eyes. One of the greatest aspects of reading something you think in a novel is realizing that you're not the only one. Misery loves company, right? Actually everything loves company. Weirdness, sorrow, happiness. Knowing that you're not the only who thinks something is a major relief.

The hardest part, for me, was admitting that it's really not a path to some goal, but it's the goal itself. Even though I believe life is often the journey and not the destination, I also think that sometimes a worthwhile destination can make a difficult path bearable. What, unfortunately, often happens is that we get walking on a path, for some reason or another and rarely stop to consider whether it's the path we meant to keep walking on. Is there a worthwhile goal at the end of this one?

Assuming one does stop to consider these issues, as the above excerpt implies, the next difficult step is to have the nerve to admit that the path might not be leading anywhere special. And at twenty-eight and halfway to success, it's excruciatingly difficult to admit that. It's even harder to cut your losses and move back to begin another path.

I remember, freshman year in college, when my economics professor taught us about 'sunk cost.' If on your way to a concert you lose the tickets, do you buy another one when you get to the concert or do you just give up and go back home?

I hope that no matter how old I am and how far down the path I've traveled, as soon as I realize that it's the wrong path or the wrong destination, I will have the strength of mind to consider it sunk cost and turn my life upside down. As many times as necessary.

I guess I'm just like many other women. Facing that crucial moment. The only difference is that I'm twenty-seven. That's only off by one year.

Feeling less weird about my recent decisions already.

Previously? The Wrong Path.