We're expected to have all the answers at 18.
What we want to do for the rest of our lives, where we want to go. When we want to be married by. If you pile those age-old questions on to today's FOMO (fear of missing out) and the anxiety social media allows to bloom with comparison, we’re in quite a pickle. An anxious, competitive pickle.
New
flash: I barely know what I'm going to eat for lunch tomorrow, let alone who I
want to be married to, when and where. I may think I want a salad, but might
end up going to Chick-fil-A because the possibilities are endless. We can't
beat ourselves up for changing our paths. It's just a salad, it's just chicken,
and it's just life. It's not like we Millennials don't aspire or know we want
great things in life, we just don't always know the exact outcome our lives
will have and that's OK.
But we're taught to fear the uncertain. That if it's appearing in our lives and
we can't plan for it or anticipate it, that it is to be feared. That unexpected
situations are to make us clam up, quiet down and watch in horror as we try to
figure out what to do.
But think of all the great things that have happened just outside of your
comfort zone. Things that just popped up into your life that you had to roll
with. Thinking on one's feet shows adaptability, vigor and knowledge. Whether
it's a random roommate, getting the courage to crack a joke in class to the
person next to you that you barely know or try street food, it taught you
something. You learned something. Something valuable. It's a memory and it
helps you make decisions in the future. It helps prepare you for what may come
along. Even the smallest coincidence can change your life.
Am I saying that everything happens right away? Hell no. Great things take
time. Sometimes it takes build up, maturity and time. Even time takes time.
Nothing worth keeping happens overnight. It may not come easy, but it'll be
worth it. Which is a message sometimes lost in a culture where it seems that
everything happens instantly when you desire it. But good things take time.
Time gives people anxiety, I'm guilty of a panic attack or two on the matter.
However, these are the things you'll reflect on and realize you made a mountain
out of a mole hill.
Is it bad to have a plan? Oh, my darling, no! I'm not suggesting that you ditch
your morals, values or ideas of what you'd like your life to be like. I'm
simply suggesting not to explode or melt every time you see someone update
their LinkedIn profile and you feel behind. I invite you to wade in
possibility. To let at least one aspect of your life grow in uncertainty. You
don't need all the answers. We've barely lived to be a quarter of 100.
"Life is tough darling, but so are you."
