I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. You don’t have to have the next 50 years mapped out, down to the last microscopic detail. It's okay to figure life out as you go along. You are not less of a human being if your life is one big question mark to you. Sometimes you find the path you are supposed to be on by accident, just like other times you find it out on purpose. There is no right or wrong way to live life (with a few exceptions, such as raping or murdering people, because those are clearly wrong decisions to make and are quite disturbing). The next time you feel bad because you don’t know what your plan is for your life, remember these simple truths.
You have your whole life to figure out what you want to do. That doesn’t mean that you should spend the next five months of your life holed up in your room doing nothing but eating hot pockets and watching Netflix, but it does mean that you can cut yourself a little slack. You are not perfect, and no one should expect perfection from you. That means that you are bound to mess up, try different things, and figure out what works for you by trial and error. That is okay. As long as you are giving your best, that is all you can really do.
When you don’t have your life together, you are forced to think long and hard about what your priorities should be, and how you think you should be living your life. Through this introspective lens, you can learn more about yourself. Also, instead of focusing on what other people want from you, you have a golden opportunity to focus on your own hopes, dreams, and goals. You can try something completely new. You never know where the experience will take you, or what you will gain from it. The sky is the limit.
Some of you might have some goals in your head, but they might not be the ones that society expects you to have. Instead of having a dream job picked out, you might care more about the family that your job will be providing for. You might be more focused on having fun life experiences in the future than working long hours and getting that time-consuming and energy-draining promotion all your coworkers want. That is perfectly fine, and there is no reason for you to feel bad about that. Caring about jobs and money isn’t for everyone. You have to care enough about money to be able to pay your bills, afford gas, pay rent, buy groceries, and basically live as an adult. However, you don’t have to constantly want more money than you have. You don’t have to know what kind of job you want, and you don’t really have to care what job you get as long as you are qualified for it and it pays enough. For some people, their job is their life. However, for others, their job pays for their life. It’s okay to be in that second category. I am, and I am fine with that.
