Whenever someone asks you about your future, they'll use the age-old phrase, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The problem with this question is that you only ever get to pick one thing. In fact, if you were to list more than one thing, you would probably receive some pretty strange looks.
When I think about my future, I don't see myself doing the same thing over and over again until retirement; I want to try so many different things but only do them for a couple years at a time and then move on. I've never been all that good at staying with jobs. Every summer, I get a new one and, in just a couple months of an unchanging environment, I get bored again.
In the society we live in, you always hear, "Humans are not good with change." So often, change makes people uncomfortable. The human race is known for being one that accepts the familiar and rejects the unknown. However, I don't think this applies in what could be considered a "safe" situation. For example, deciding where you are going to be living when you're on your own would be a situation in which I think you are going to be looking for the familiar. Possibly moving to a new state or even a new country is something that will scare most people, so there's a chance that you'll end up living in a place like the environment you grew up in.
Anytime we feel safe, however, I think we are looking for more change, more often. People are always looking for new things when the situation in itself doesn't worry them.
I know that we are all expected to go to school with a focus in one to two areas max, then move on and get a job in those fields; but I really can't see myself doing that. I want to try so many different things. There are a couple companies I would die to work for, but most companies expect you to stay there for an extended period of time.
I suppose that's why I picked journalism. While the writing never changes, the atmospheres and topics do. I can choose to travel all over the world and freelance, or I can work from a desk in a tall building in the city. I can have more areas of expertise like fashion, photography and science, and it wouldn't be odd that the topics of interest seem to be worlds apart.
When some people get older, into their retirement, they so often say, "I wish I had done..." and fill in the blank. So often, they are talking about the one thing they spend the majority of their life doing. They may even say they wished they had picked a different major in school so that they could have pursued something they really cared about.
It honestly terrifies me that I may regret some of my major life decisions like where I want to work. I do truly believe that the human race was not meant to function the way society is functioning now. Maybe you disagree; maybe you are comfortable with the idea of doing the same thing until retirement and then growing old. If you've ever been on the fence about two or more things that you want to do with your life, figure something out. Find a way to integrate everything you love into what you do because, if you don't, you'll one day be a 70-something grandparent full of regrets.
