When I first started college, I thought I had it all figured out— I could easily tell you what I wanted to do with my life and how I was going to do it. I had everything planned out and for awhile, I got stuck in my ways because life was suppose to happen according to plan, but I was utterly wrong about that. Two years later, my perspective on life and my ideology have shifted as I experienced trials, failures, successes, and came face to face with alternate points of view that challenged my own beliefs.

Things don’t go according to plan and we have absolutely no control over that. It’s good to have directions, goals, and even a plan, but it’s vital to realize that, those things are subject to change as we grow and become more of who we are really are. When we are truly in our essence and living life in true form, good things will follow and lead us in the right direction to where we belong and need to be. In life, we always make the right choice, even when we go through hardships and failures— each experience is teaching us a lesson and is shaping us into who we are meant to be.

The hard times truly make us appreciate the good around us because if it we never had to survive the storms, we would not appreciate the warmth and sunshine. For me, I had to stop looking at certain experiences as failures and start valuing the lessons I took away from things that weren’t meant for me. When I graduated from high school, I knew college was the direction for me, but the first college I chose to go to was not the right fit for me and I knew it right away. I felt like a failure for deciding to transfer because everyone else seemed to love the college they were attending, and I knew in my heart that it wasn’t where I was meant to be.

A year and a half later, I am thriving at my new university and the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Things don’t always work out the way we pray they would, but like Garth Brooks would say, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” You must trust that what’s to come is greater than anything you’re leaving behind.