When you're in college, you feel like you need to have everything figured out. Newsflash: You don't, and chances are you won’t anytime soon. There’s this whole fascination with knowing our future, and doing everything we can to make it go exactly how we plan it. Honestly, nothing goes how you plan it. Life happens and people or ideas find themselves off their original track. It’s not always a bad thing, it can turn out to be the best unexpected detour that could have ever happened to you.
Vering off your path could lead to multiple different outcomes. You could choose to go left instead of right and find a shorter path to your destination. You could go to a different coffee shop one morning and meet the love of your life. Getting off track is not always a negative idea.
Sometimes, it needs to be embraced.
Other times we find that things have gone bad and not for the better. Plans get messed up or people lose their footing. But don’t fear, making a mistake doesn’t mean you are some terrible person who can’t ever come back from your failures. Failures are necessary and a part of life. Sometimes they happen and we can’t help it, other times they happen because we did something dumb. Whatever the reason may be, don’t create the mindset that you’re some sort of demon-like being who doesn’t deserve happiness or success.
It is easy to get down in the dumps, but pulling yourself up at a low moment can only make you a better person in the end.
If you have made a decision outside of your character, evaluate yourself. Why did I do this? Was there really a reason? How can I avoid doing this again? Ask yourself questions and really answer them. Figure out what got you off course so you can figure out what may get you back on. And please don’t hate yourself. It’s okay to hate what you may have done or not done, but do not dwell on your mistakes. Instead, learn from them. Ask yourself how you can be a better person from this moment and do it.
So don’t fret if your life is just a constant game of free ballin’. Don’t feel like you need a five-year, ten-year, or lifelong career goal charted out. Just start living life and enjoy the ups and downs the ride takes you on. Do what makes you smile, what makes your heart race and your stomach flutter with butterflies. Be with someone who makes getting out of bed an easy task and going to bed a dreaded thought. Find adventures and learn from their outcomes. Fix your mistakes and let them be your guide on becoming your best you. Don’t try to figure your life out, it will figure itself out for you.