It’s Okay If You Don’t Know What You Want To Do With Your Life

It’s okay to say that you don’t know what you’re going to be when you grow up.

There’s nothing wrong with being honest at the Thanksgiving table and telling your nosy aunt who just wants to gloat about your cousin who’s pre-med that you’re still thinking about it.

There’s nothing wrong with taking the time to figure your future out as you go along.

We live in a world that’s unsure of everything, and the people who are sure of things are few and far between. We live in a world that’s evolving and growing and developing faster than ever, and it will keep growing and we’ll keep getting new technology in an endless domino effect. One thing leads to another, and another until the only ones of us who are still standing are those of us who know how to adapt as we go. And isn’t that the beauty of the human condition, to adapt and change and figure things out as you go?

It’s okay if you don’t have your life planned out down to the very last second, just as it’s okay if you do. If you actually are the kind of person who knew what you wanted to do when you were five years old, that’s amazing because you knew who you were and you had a very distinct sense of self that most adults never discover, and those of us who are a little less sure could learn about that determination. And you might have your own obstacles to maneuver and your own hills to climb. Knowing what you want to do isn’t the whole story, but it is a start.

And maybe you haven’t started quite yet. Maybe you’re pacing somewhere on the sidelines, figuring out when it is and where it is you’re supposed to jump in. And that’s perfectly fine.

Don’t commit to one thing if you don’t have to. Until you know exactly what it is that makes you wake up in the morning, wake up for everything. Learn about everything you can, and discover what keeps your interest, and eliminate what’s not for you as you go along instead of saying definitively what is. Be multi-faceted, and be interested in as much as you can, and be passionate about as much as you can until you finally realize that there is one thing that excites you more than the rest combined. You might be 18, or you might be 28, or you might be 40. But whether it hits you like a ton of bricks or sneaks up on you like maybe you knew it all along, all that wondering will have been worth it.

It’s then—and only then—that you’ll know what you want to do with your life. That moment will come. It always does. You just have to take a great leap of faith and trust that it will. And you’ll be in good company, because endless scores of people have taken that leap, too.

Because you have your whole life to figure out where you want to go and what you want to do. You have your whole life to discover who you want to be.

If you take a little more time trying to discover what you want to do, maybe you won’t wake up halfway through your life and realize that you want to make a change. Or maybe you will. But if you do, you’ll know that you can.

And that it will be alright if you decide to make a change when you feel that pull.

Because it will have been okay that you didn’t know however many years ago.

It’s okay that you don’t know now.

It will be okay.