Coming into college I knew I had a general direction of where I was wanting to go in life, what I wanted to study, and the kind of woman I wanted to be. Not all the little details figured out, at least I thought I knew of the general direction.

Then, classes start, new information is shoved down your throat, career fairs start, you meet new people with different ideas, and people who share a different perspective on life that you’ve never even considered, and all of a sudden you feel more lost in life than ever before. You realize how much you have to learn, and how far you still have to go and become discouraged when you think you aren’t making forward progress in a timely enough manner.

I’ll be twenty in July, and I always tell my friends that since that sounds like such a new era in life, I feel like I should have my future planned out, a steady boyfriend, a comfortable job, and know exactly who I am. But, this is simply just not true. Even if sometimes I wish it were, lol.

The truth is, is that even if you’re the most analytical person and strategic planner in the world, like myself, you don’t have to have your whole life planned out at such an early stage in life. You don’t have to know exactly what career you want for your first job, even if teachers are convincing you to go to career fairs during your first semester of college, you don’t have to know exactly what major you want to study, even when your academic advisor is asking you at every meeting you have with them. And when you’re at the next big family gathering or major holiday, you don’t have to give your grandma some elaborate answer about how you have your whole life figured out and want to live in Nashville, Tennessee with a surgeon and have three kids.

The future can be scary, and it can be frustrating. It’s OK if you don’t know the answers to the big questions of life yet, and it’s OK if you don’t know for a while.

People spend so much time pondering about the future, that they often forget to live in the present. I’m guilty of this too, and sometimes there are days where I have to remind myself that I have only lived 19 years so far, and the years ahead of me, are far more than the years behind me.

You have so much time. You have nothing but time.

So take a deep breath. Even when your peers, teachers, and family members are pressuring you about the future, take a deep breath and take a minute to think about your current present life instead of your future one.

Take a moment to celebrate your present life. Take a moment to appreciate the things you know about yourself, and be excited for the things you will continue to learn. Take a moment to focus on your present goals, because sometimes even without you realizing it, those present goals will turn into a version of your future ones. Take a minute to find your passions, and see where they take you in life, but let life take you.

Let life take you where it may, and follow the path it’s leading you down, because sometimes the most troublesome paths lead to the most beautiful destinations.

One day all of the answers will fall into place, and until that day comes, just live.