glorious, unwritten future

Sometimes I fixate on the future. What's my purpose? What's my path? Will I ever do something truly meaningful or amazing?

There was a time back in college when I thought I knew just how my life would go. One of the benefits and drawbacks of college is that it forces you (most people, at least) to define a course of action for yourself. Pick a major, get an internship, land a job, and voila! you have a career and therefore you have direction and purpose.

The second I graduated, something became very clear to me: being an adult can really suck sometimes. And feeling limited to one career and one path seemed to make the hope of a less-sucky adulthood diminish by the day. So I made a calculated choice to deviate from my chosen path. I would take opportunities as they came to me, whether they fit into my chosen direction or not. I would embrace the complete and utter uncertainty of my future because it would allow me to feel free to explore the many paths that life would offer me.

While the idea of a completely malleable future was a bit unsettling at first, I realized that uncertainty also means hope. If I have no clue where my job or life will take me, then it gives me the flexibility to dream of a wild, amazing future for myself filled with possibility and wonder.

I'm perfectly fine with admitting it: I have no five-year plan.

It's a big fat question mark. And while this fact makes my life a bit harder for my parents to explain to their friends when they ask about my "career," in my eyes that question mark is far more motivating and inspiring than any specific career goals could ever be.

When I fall asleep at night and dream of my future, it's always something different. I'm a writer, or an entrepreneur, or a teacher, or an artist. I'm rich, or I'm not. I'm in a comfortable home, or I'm traveling the world. The point is, my future IS only limited by my imagination. Living life feels like reading a great book and wondering the whole time how the story will end, except I'm the author.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having specific goals or knowing exactly what you want to do and the life you want to lead. I just happen to be the type of person that feels trapped by that certainty. So if you are like me and you find yourself wanting more than the path before you, just know that the world is at your disposal.

Embrace your glorious, unwritten future and live the life of your wildest dreams.