Have you ever found yourself surrounded by people who all know exactly what they wanted to do with their lives? Where they want to live, what career they want to pursue and even how many kids they want to have are already embedded in their brains and they even have corresponding Pinterest boards to go along with it. Yet here you are, with a major that you maybe, sort of might want to stick with for a career that you guess you think you'll kind of like. You find yourself researching the best cities to live in, career paths that fit you and places that are hiring every night, nervously wondering if anything you'll pick will be the right choice for you. You also find it necessary to come up with the perfect life plan because that's what the people around you have done. Hey, they seem to be happy, right?
You're not alone in this struggle. This is coming from a girl who has changed her major four times in two and a half years and is just now starting to learn what her passions kinda sorta might be. Let me tell you from experience, nothing is worth the anxiety, the fear or the stress. We often idealize this notion of who we think we should be in the future and what careers or lifestyle we will live but truthfully, there's no way of knowing these sort of things now. You are not who you were five years ago, so who's to say that in the next five years you'll be happy with what you decide for yourself right now?
With the holiday season approaching quickly, most of us are already mentally preparing how we're going to answer those annoying questions our relatives ask us about what we want to do with our lives. And if you don't have all of the answers, that's OK. You are allowed to change your major multiple times. You are allowed to change your goals for yourself as much as you want. No one decides what you are capable of doing with your life. Everyone reroutes their life at least a little bit from what they originally expected and, in the end, who cares if it took you some extra time and you suffered some bruises and bumps on the way? Without all of the majors I've given up on, the clubs I've quit after a month of joining and the jobs and hobbies I've decided not to pursue after a few short weeks of trying them, I would never have met some of the amazing people in my life and had the life experiences that have taught me so much.
By stressing over creating a perfect life plan, you could potentially be blocking yourself from embracing new, amazing experiences you never thought you would. So, enjoy the long and constantly changing road because, who knows, the light at the end of the tunnel might just be bigger and brighter than you ever expected.
