I think it's safe to say that everyone wants to be successful. No matter what your passion is; baking, singing, speaking, we want to be the best we can be. But I have come to realize that the stress to be successful is becoming a huge burden, especially for high school and college students. Everyone is pushing us to be successful (which is great), but it seems that there are no room for mistakes. You have to know exactly what you are doing by the time you enter high school, and if you change your mind it is looked down upon because you just wasted time you could have been preparing for your future career or college resume.

It's great to strive to be the best, but it is not worth the pressure. I have witnessed so many of my friends not embracing life because they feel guilty that they aren't studying. With my best friend passing away earlier this year, I have come to realize that life is so short and precious, and while studying and working hard is very important, it is also important to have fun and enjoy life. When you look back on your life are you going to remember the tests and assignments that you did or are you going to remember the exciting activities you did with your best friends and the traditions you made with your family?

I want to make sure to stress to you that it is totally okay to change your mind, contrary to popular views. Going into college undecided or changing majors has such a stigma that should not exist. Not knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life by the time you hit senior year is also very okay and very normal. You should get to explore your options. You may have an idea of what you think a certain career is like, then get to college and realize you were totally wrong. Success is thought nowadays to mean perfection, and that is so not true. Experimentation and exploration are very important parts of success and you shouldn't feel stressed or pressured to take those steps.

No one wants to fail. Failure is scary and leaves us feeling worthless and embarrassed. But the truth of it is, failure is a part of life. This is how we learn and this is how we grow. The greatest and most successful people did not become who they are now without failure in their life. Success means something different for everyone and everyone has different dreams. It's important to go after those dreams, but don't be afraid of failure.

The most important part of this article that I want you take with you before you click off of this page, is that God has a wonderful and perfect plan or each of us. Why stress about whether or not we will be successful when we have a wonderful and perfect God watching over us and our lives? He knows exactly what is going to happen to us and He created a plan designed just for us. That's pretty awesome if you ask me. So take a second a breathe. Stop worrying about your future and take a good long look at today.