Recently, I’ve come to a dead end in knowing what I want — out of life, love, a career. It seems only two years ago, at the age of 18, I was so sure of myself. I had a major picked out that I was good at, a boyfriend who I thought I’d be with forever, and a career plan that would make me six figures a year after seven years of experience. I had it all, wanted more, and knew just about everything. What no one told me, however; was that wasn’t the way life worked.

By the age of 20, I became unsure of my major, broke up with my not-so-perfect partner, and was left without a clear career path I wanted to take. On top of that, health issues, mental and physical, arose. This now left me with the uncertainty of not only my education, choice in men, and career, but myself. How could so much change in two years? As I began to wonder if I’d ever figure everything out, I came across an answer that finally made me relax. And that answer was: no.

I began to think about the choices I made in my life and how I got to where I am today. For example, when I was little, my dream was to become a veterinarian. For years, I talked about how much I loved animals and how I would save the lives of every creature brought into my office. Years later, I learned the importance of reality when I discovered my fear of blood, the fact that not every animal could be saved, and my lack of interest in science. My dreams were crushed, but I moved on to other dreams and career choices that better pertained to my skills and interests.

Though that example was one of the many choices that got me here, I realized that every one of them had something in common. With every road bump, I came to in my search for what I wanted, I learned something valuable about myself. I learned my strengths and weaknesses, what I liked and didn’t like, what I tolerated and didn’t tolerate, and so much more. The thought that you only built yourself into the person you became wasn't necessarily true. You learn new things about yourself in every new experience you come across, good or bad, and let that new information make you or break you.

As mentioned above, the fact that I would never figure everything out made me relax and here's why... I will never stop changing. I will never be the same person I was one year ago, two years ago, or ten years ago. I will have the rest of my life to build myself and learn to be the person I was meant to be. There will never be an expiration date to be who I want to be or give the best that I can of myself. Because the more you learn about your inner workings, the more you have to offer and the more you become at peace with yourself. And as long as I live, that will be my number one goal.

So the next time you're feeling unsure of yourself, just remember that you are still and forever will be changing. You are always learning. The answers may not always come when you ask them to but rest assured, they have good timing and often when you least expect them. Life is always full of chaos and turmoil but peace is best achieved through understanding, even if it's understanding your self. In the words of a well-known yoga instructor and author Geeta Iyengar, "Knowledge has a beginning, but no end."