Life is not a destination; it is a journey
What is my goal?
Why am I trying to reach this goal?
Do I have a honest passion in pursuing my goal?
I think I’m in a half-mid-life crisis, without even knowing it.
Things become so routine we hardly question ourselves at the present. What is it that is so worthy of our valuable time, that we end up slaving after and making sacrifices for? And for whom? Yourself? Your family? For dignity and pride? For stability, a better future, for pleasure?
On a more personal note, I’d like to bring this topic of discussion to one that is troubling the minds of students all over the world: career choice. Choosing a career, is not easy. At least for most people. It almost defines who you are, not entirely, but it paves the road for you and limits you to what you will become, what kind of things you will be doing, what you are going to invest your time in. Since college began I’ve been on a quest to discover the purpose of my higher education. See the problem with me is that I never really have a clear image of what I want. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever like to settle on something. It doesn’t matter what kind of situation I am in…choosing between two equally awesome movies, which clubs to join, deciding on where to sit for the upcoming concert, ordering burgers or chicken nuggets at McDonald’s (a bit exaggerated but you get the idea). I’m scared of commitment and I greatly fear the thought of making wrong decisions. I admire people who are filled with clear-cut ambition and know exactly what they want to be.
So I’ve done all kinds of things to try and see for myself how these conclusions can be arrived. Early in the semester I realized that I needed to evaluate really, truly, why I chose my major and if there are any other options that may be better. After asking numerous people, I realized that their stories were actually really simple: I was inspired from…, I was interested in this…, I thought it would be cool to…
About 1/3 brushed it off casually like it was just a simple matter, not giving me a straight answer. There were also people who seemed disturbed when I asked because they weren’t yet ready to decide. Surprisingly, the majority of people was in the same boat I was, floating around, exploring, decided but still not really sure where they were going and if it was the right way. Is it worth taking the road not taken, or should we follow what our parents told us? What did our role models do? What are my values and what is important to me?
The truth is, no one really knows what the future will bring. We’re all trying to take control of the reigns, mold our lifestyles, and tinker it so it will be the perfect way we want it to be, but things change, bad stuff happen, and adjustments must be made. We’ve all had mistakes in the past, we all fear for the ‘what if I…?’ and the regrets that may follow. But life is not a destination, it is a journey, and the unpredictability is what makes it exciting. Take the movie Up, for example (spoiler alert). The old man went through hell to have his house sit on top of that mountain but in the end there was nothing else to it but an achievement. The part that matter was the climb towards the goal (Yes, cheesy I know, and that sure sounded like a Miley Cyrus reference), the little things along the way, and being able to survive through it. Point is, we shouldn’t fear for those what ifs, it’s important to be bold and confident about your dreams, and take in what comes with it.
But on the other hand, maybe sometimes it is better to be undecided. It’s ok to want to do everything and be open to the options that are presented along the way. We won’t really know what it really is like to be a doctor, a chef, a financial analyst… Who are we to judge? We have to be open-minded, and change course accordingly for better opportunities and what is best for us.
The best we can make of this is to continually ask ourselves, everyday, genuinely, without sort of obligation to anyone…is this really what you want?
What do you think? Should we set out to fulfill a few goals? Would being open to many things distract us from achieving our purpose in life?
