Reside: Against the Norm

If you've known me for a while, you know that I'm organized. I like schedules and lists, especially if they are color-coded. I like routine. 
Well, the past few months have challenged that, and I'm finally starting to see the good in the challenge.
All through school - elementary, middle, high, undergrad - there was a schedule. Even last year working in Res Life at Point I had a schedule. But then I re-entered the world of Milligan Res Life combined with graduate school. And it was weird.
Don't for one second misunderstand me. I love where I am and all I have. 
What's been weird is my striving toward routine again. Toward "normalcy" - whatever that is. And what God taught me in a conversation I had earlier this week is that normalcy ought not to be my goal. Living effectively should be my goal, whether or not I go about it in a "normal" fashion.
When I say normal, I'm mostly referring to a schedule. I imagine that a Normal Day in the life of a Normal Person in the Work Force goes a little something like this: awake by 7AM, at work by 8AM, lunch break at noon, home by 5PM, dinner, relaxing, maybe an evening commitment here or there, and to bed at a reasonable hour.
My day went like this: awake at 10AM, breakfast-slash-lunch, a shower, working my house-cleaning job from 1 to 2PM, staff meeting at 3:30PM, an hour at the library, grabbing dinner before class from 5:30 until 9:15, then an hour at my friends' house for our weekly TV show, and finishing up yoga at midnight. I'll be up for another hour or so as I get ready for bed and do some reading. 
It feels weird. I struggle because I have what seems to be a lot of downtime. "You get to sleep in until 10 some days during the week?" I feel like I could be labeled as lazy, or maybe I just do it to myself. Yes, some days I don't get up until 10, but those are after the nights when I was up until 1 or 2 because so much of my life happens in the evening. I sometimes beat myself up because my day-to-day doesn't resemble that of other people my age working "normal" jobs.
But what God is showing me is that He has not prescribed a schedule. He has not demanded an order in which I do things. He has not given me a bedtime. He has only blessed me with work to do. He demands things of me, yes. He demands that I do my jobs well, that I work hard in school, that I seek Him. But He also commands me to take care of myself, to rest, to laugh. He has given me a to-do list and I have to decide when to get things done.
To my friends living the "normal" life, know that I envy you some days. Take advantage of it and see that work and that structure as a blessing - and fill your free hours with things that give you life and further the Kingdom.
To my fellow graduate students and friends working the odd hours, let's embrace it. I have a feeling that I am not alone in my feelings of awkwardness at the structure of my day-to-day life right now. I'm 23 - I'm supposed to be an adult, right? Well, it's time to banish the "supposed to's" and the preconceived, American-dream pictures of adulthood and success. 
Praise God for where He has you. Right now. And live in it.