What most people won't tell you about being in college is that it's okay to not have figured out what you want to do with your life yet. It's okay to change your major multiple times, to spend a summer waitressing instead of interning, and it's okay to not have any clue who you are going to end up with.
What most people won't tell you about being in college is that when you graduate at the age of 22, luckily, you still have your entire life to figure it all out. What they won't tell you is that not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life is actually a huge blessing in disguise.
Honestly, I think it is almost better to not have your entire life figured out right now. Can you imagine how boring the next 60-some odd years would be if you had all of the answers by the time you were 22? Life is long and is supposed to be full of surprises, so why are we all in such a rush to find the answers? Think about it this way, not knowing what you want to do with your life will push you to explore infinitely many more options than you would if you knew exactly what you wanted out of life right now at this very moment.
Not knowing what you want to major in will allow you to take classes in various subjects you never would have thought to before. Not knowing where you are going to get a job after graduation will allow you to explore career options that you might not have even known existed. And not knowing who you want to spend the rest of your life with will allow you to not only get to know yourself better, but push you to meet lots of new people who have all kinds of stories.
Not knowing what you want to do with your life will teach you resilience, because you are going to fail over and over again until you finally get it right. It will teach you to go after what you truly want because you are going to feel the need to fill the void inside you where unanswered questions lie. Not knowing what you want will teach you to advocate for yourself because nobody else can tell you what you should be doing with your life. Not knowing what you want will force you to take life day by day, and allow you to actually stop and smell the roses. Yes, not knowing is scary, but it's a part of growing up. It's a part of becoming the person you are meant to be rather than the person you have been told you should be.
Contrary to popular belief, uncertainty is not a death sentence. Just because you don't have a plan doesn't mean you aren't headed in the right direction. Uncertainty is what made Brad Pitt drop out of college one semester before he was supposed to graduate and move to Hollywood. Uncertainty is what made Bill Gates leave Harvard in search of bigger and better things. Uncertainty is not incompetence, rather it is a driving force. It is what causes people to ask questions and to keep moving forward.
Not knowing what you want is exciting. It means that you are never going to be bored, because you are constantly going to be exploring what else is out there. It means that every time you change your mind about what path you should be on, you are one step closer to finding the thing that you really love. The times we spend not knowing what we want are going to be the best times of our lives. They will be the times that push us the hardest, teach us the most about ourselves and make the best memories.
Next time you are feeling anxious about the future, just remember that not knowing what you want to do with your life is more than okay. Not knowing what you are doing with your life is just the optimists' take on what's best has yet to come.
