Many would argue that the key to happiness is success. When it comes to the hopes and dreams for our futures, we often grow to revitalize our ideas. As we continue to learn about careers, the economy, and all the fun realistic details involved in a job, being the president or a cowboy seems just slightly less dependable (granted, nothing is impossible).
I was around six years old when I was first asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I sat at the booth in a local pizza hut inhaling the cheesy aromas and impatiently awaiting my personal pan, but without hesitation I told my grandma loud and proud, “I want to be an author”.
Quickly she did what a grandmother sometimes does best and hit me with a reality check,
“Well, you can be that on the side, but you have to have another job as your career job, right? How about a nurse, maybe, or a doctor? You can’t just depend on being an author you know.”
My six year old self sat in my thoughts confused, enamored; processing what she had just made me contemplate. I forgot all about my pizza (that is how you know there is something bothering me; i forget about my food). I cringed at the thought of having to work with blood as I am not brave enough and get slightly queasy. I wondered what else I could do as my “main career”. I would continue to keep that conversation in mind for the rest of my life.
Later comes the stage where you have to declare a major in school, and you really have to think about what you want to dedicate the rest of your life to doing. We are conditioned to be thinking about our place in the increasingly competitive socioeconomic world when we invest thousands of dollars into our education. My parents in particular always wanted to see me do better. My mother always stressed the importance in getting my degree, and obtaining a job that would be economically satisfying. Growing up sometimes struggling financially in a family of three kids(although we always got by with what we needed became my parents are amazing), the importance in making money was no unspeakable myth. Being financially successful was stressed. “Money isn't everything, but unfortunately there is a hell of a lot you won’t be able to do without it,” my father would say.
They also always stressed that I needed to do what I loved and not just for the salary otherwise I would be miserable. We are told this by our superiors all the time. Do not just go for it because it seems stable. Do it because you love it. I always really appreciated both of these things being ingrained into my head, but I could not help but feel a little conflicted when it came to planning my future. I also found as I grew and became more aware of the world around me, my interests were constantly changing. So what do we choose?
To be honest with you these are still the questions that keep me up at night. As a senior in college, it becomes especially prevalent when there are those around me with a foolproof plan straight out of school. This permeates in my head along with the fears of many of us, what if we become a statistic and what if we fail? What if we end up hating our jobs? What if we struggle?
It then occurred to me that there was beauty in the unknown. There are chances of failure in even the most foolproof of plans. There are speed bumps that may push us back and unexpected twists that propel us forward.
The best part about it is that almost everyone is experiencing it right along with us. Not to mention, it doesn’t really stop. We will spend most of our lives working, and spend most of our days with a probability to fail at different tasks. So for those of you who awaited a solution at the end of this article, I apologize. The truth is there is no right answer. It is healthy to have doubts and it is normal to change your mind. The truth is a completely foolproof plan would be boring.
Both of my parents went back to school this year to explore their own working definitions of success and I could not be more proud. Two years ago I wanted to be a director, last week I just wanted to make a positive societal difference, and I must say Grandma, today I am having a splendid time being the author of this paper.
So for those of you looking for the key to happiness and success, I leave you with the infamous phrase by Horace: Carpe Diem! Or in other words; seize the day!
