As young adults, we are pushed with knowing what we want to do with our lives and what path we should go down, but what happens when you don’t know what to do?
I remember when I was a senior in high school and was asked so many times what I was doing after graduation. At that point, I had some impossible plan for my life. I pursued it but quickly realized it was a bad idea. There are three questions that you get asked in college every time you meet someone new: What’s your name? What’s your major? Where are you from? The first and last are easy, but what about the second? Chances are, at some point, you have no idea, so what if you have no clue? There’s nothing easy about looking at someone and saying, “I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life,” but you have to be okay with being unsure.
Earlier this year, I was struggling with accepting being unsure of what to do with my life. My dad came to me and said he didn’t know how to help. He left me with some advice, though, and that was to keep doing what I’m doing. At the time, I was annoyed because that was the option I didn’t want to accept because it wasn’t an answer. As I look back, this was the best advice.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
Chances are, there’s not a better solution for you right now because the timing isn’t right for you to know. There’s a purpose for all of our lives, and we have to pursue it. To continue doing what you’re doing doesn’t mean to not pursue anything else, but to not fret about it. Sometimes the timing isn’t right for us to have all of the answers, and we have to be okay with that.
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 KJV
I remember another time whenever I was having boy problems. I didn’t know if I should keep dating the guy I was or if I was being too dramatic. (First clue: if you are second-guessing a relationship early on…it’s probably not going to work out.) This isn’t something that you can normally just wait on until you figure it out. In the moment, you need answers. Do I cut it off, or do I see what happens? This is why I went to people who knew both of us very well and got their opinions.
Confide in someone.
It’s never a bad idea to go to a close friend and ask for help. Once you do this, you have someone who already knows what you’re struggling with and who you can go to from now on regarding your problems. It’s never healthy to hold everything in.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16 KJV
Let’s be honest, life isn’t easy. Frankly, none of us know what we’re doing on our own, and if we have it all figured out by ourselves, we’re mistaken. This is something that is hard for us to accept because we’re prideful and think that we know what’s best. Do you remember whenever you were younger (maybe even now) and there was always that one kid who thought they knew everything? For me, I couldn’t wait to see that kid mess up. Yes, I shouldn’t have done that, but normally the kid would fail. I can’t help but picture the straight A kid getting their first bad grade. It’s the end of the world to them because they were supposed to never do poorly. Tears streaming down their face, they realize that it wasn’t as they had thought.
Breathe out the pride and get on your knees.
Whether you believe in God or not, at some point we’re all going to fall to our knees. As a believer, you should already be there, and if not, know that it’s coming. You cannot succeed on your own, and someday you’re going to give up and go to God. If you don't believe in God or maybe even angry with Him, there’s a day coming when you’re going to drop to your knees. Bad things happen every day. Just today, I read on Facebook of three teenagers, completely unrelated, who had passed away. Nothing about that is easy, and I am not wishing that on anyone or any family. With that being said, there’s no good place to go from there except for to God. If something so terrible is happening, we obviously couldn’t or didn’t stop it, so what makes us think we still can? Our pride needs to leave so we’ll go to the Truth. If life is going terrible, and there’s no good answer on what to do, there’s nowhere else to run, except to God.
"Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me Lord, my faithful God." Psalm 31
At some point, maybe more than others, you’ll have no clue what to do. I’m not sure what life is going to throw at you, but I’m sure that all of us have or will run across this problem. Remember: you’re not alone.
