Confused by the options

I got some much needed thinking/processing time in today. It turned out to be a wonderful day, over 70 degrees, not too much wind (well by Oklahoma standards in March anyway), and some much needed fencing that got done.

Do you realize how nerve-wrecking it is to think that one little decision could shape not only the next few years of my life, but my entire career? How do people make decisions like this? Am I ready to start a "real" job?

Here is the deal. I love being out working on the ranch do the everyday stuff. I love just knowing that there are the everyday chores, yet at the same time, now two days are the same. I love interacting with new livestock all the time, nothing ever stays the same. I love spring time, calving, hay season, early summer mornings when you are sweating after your first step out the door in the morning. There is no feeling in the world like taking a moment to stop in the middle of a pasture and simply take in the sights. It's such a relief to just be there. Where ever "there" may be at the time.

I loved my summer in the feedyards of west texas. Waking up at 3 in the morning, making the rounds checking bunks and getting the first round of feed started before the sun ever reaches the horizon, the really early mornings of shipping fats and eating lunch at the local cafe at 6 in the morning, getting off at 4 in the afternoon, enjoying the time before going to bed at 8, just to wake up at 3 the next morning and start it all over again. Knowing that there is so much to figure out to getting the cattle's feed rations just right and figuring our just how to tweak their diets and make them perform best. The west texas plains are an awesome sight to see from atop a feedyard mill.

There are SO MANY THINGS to consider. I just hope I can make the right choice.