To the people who don’t know what the next step is, it’s OK. It’s OK to be undecided, or unsure. It is OK to live in a gray area. Life will throw so much in your direction and it constantly changes you. Things happen that change you, and you cannot predict what you will be like as a person in the following months because you can’t predict what tomorrow will bring. That is why it’s OK to be in the gray area, and it is OK to be undecided, but the only rule to being undecided is to keep moving forward. You cannot not wallow in the anxiety of not knowing what the next step, instead let it motivate you to try new things, and experiment as you become the person you are meant to be. Trust in God’s plan, and leave all anxiety with Him. His plan for you is much greater then what you have planed for yourself.
In the past year at school, I have changed more then I could ever imagine. A friend told me before I left that I would change, my friends would change, my hobbies and interest would change, and even major would probably change. I remember thinking, “Yeah, right.” But I was so wrong. I’ve learned that incoming freshman are better off being undecided when it comes to picking an area of study. Students only limit themselves when it comes to picking a major. I was dead set on being a teacher, I love working in classrooms, with all different types of kids, and over my first year at school I have changed my major once, and now entering my sophomore year of college, I only plan to change it yet again. But I have no idea what that looks like, and it’s OK.
I’ve met new people, tried new things, developed new passions all of which could never have been planned for. If someone told me a year ago what my life would look like now, I'd never believe them because of all the change that has occurred in my life over the past year. And even though I know what I know my strengths, and my passions, I still do not know what the next steps looked like. The decisions I made in the beginning of the year were made by someone who is very different then the person I am now, and future plans are always changing. It's important to embrace it.
Not knowing what is next could be one of the most beneficial parts of a person’s life. Not knowing what’s next is a blessing, if you do not let it overtake you. It gives you an opportunity to develop interests you did not even know you had. It gives you an opportunity to try new things, look at different options, and stray from a fixed mindset, to a growth mindset. Being undecided can flood you with anxiety, and you can drown in it, or you can make it something positive and use that positivity as a raft, and you can ride it to bigger and better things. There are very few who can pinpoint exactly what they want in life, but even then they can miss out on so many different opportunities.
To the person who does not know what the next steps look like, it’s OK. Think of it as an advantage, as a time where you can experience so much more than someone who is fixed on one path. Take a deep breath, trust in God’s plan for you, whatever that looks like. This gray area will open up so many doors, even though you cannot quit see them yet. Someone who knows what the next step is given one door, where if you are not sure what the next step is you could be given five. More choices, more experiences, more opportunities, and in the end you will end up exactly where you need to be.
