Decisions: How do we know which one is right and how will we know which one will lead us spiraling downhill? Well sometimes it can be obvious. For example, if you decide that dropping out of school to be an Olympic gymnast when you have never put on a leotard or stepped on a balance beam is a good choice, then you might want to rethink your decision-making radar. But that is not the kind of thing that normally crosses our minds. In college, we face decisions every day. We make small ones, such as what should I wear today or what show should I watch? We never think about these small decisions, and they just become part of our daily routine. It never crosses our minds that these small decisions could define us.
As millennials, we don’t like to be defined in any way. We make a point to make sure that just because we like to bungee jump off a building and surf does not mean that we are not into Shakespeare and reading poetry. That example may be a little extreme, but you get what I am trying to say. We have started to break free of certain boundaries and blaze our own trails. So inevitably our decisions get questioned all the time. People always question why we do things and why we are "throwing away" our lives. We have been condescended by others and what these people do not understand is that we do not want our whole life planned out and to be exactly like those who came before us. We may make rash decisions, but we have learned the importance of following our hearts.
I recently started listening to a podcast (weird, I know) that is aimed at millennials and talks about what people never taught us and how to maneuver through our 20s. This podcast talks about someone who graduated with a degree in something that she was passionate about, which most millennials seem to be doing these days. The one problem was that even when she had the opportunity of a lifetime fall into her lap, she rejected it simply because it was no longer what she was passionate about. In one episode there was an example that really laid it out for me. Think about your life as your own personal line. Your line (life) is a tightrope made up of your dreams and goals. You are the one that decides what you are walking toward. When I heard this, a few questions came to mind. How do you know what your line is and where it is going? How do you continue to redefine what your line is and not listen to people on the outside? If I have fallen off my line can I get back?
Life is about doing what excites you and makes you eager to see what comes next. Your line is made up of the things that you are passionate about. These things align under you to create a sturdy yet sometimes questionable line for you to stand upon and be proud of. If a step you take across your line, like taking a job or an opportunity that pleases your mind and all those external influences but does not please your heart, then your line will shake and not feel right. In most cases when something doesn't feel right, then it isn’t. Following our dreams as millennials has proved to be tough; a lot of times we get stuck in the transition phase. You determine what success is by following your line and believing in what is getting you there. The internal struggle of what your mind wants and what society's expectations are can be ended when you decide that you can trust in your dreams. We hear cliches, like “Listen to your heart” or “Blaze your own path,” but the truth is that no matter how cheesy and overused these statements are, they are the way that we should be living.
