One of the first questions we are asked when we are fairly young is “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. I remember being in Elementary School and having a career day of some sort and a day where we dressed up as our future selves. I remember wanting to be an “Artist” and an “Architect”. This question only gets repeated to us as we get into Middle School and High School. In High School, we’re taught to start making plans for the rest of our lives. What will we be now that we are almost grown up? Are we going straight to work? A trade school? Or college? What is it that we have decided we will become?
For some, the decision is already halfway made due to family influence. For others, the pressure feels on you if you have no clue what’s next. It almost isn’t acceptable to not know what you will do. Having perfectly laid out and curated plans is something to be proud of. Or is it?
Another realization is that this is all treated as a destination. Who we decide to “be” and what we decide to “do” when we grow up is a place that we arrive at. Then what? I’ve learned and un-learned so many things, that my perspective of all of this is quite different at the wise age of 30.
We should be proud of evolving, growing, and changing. You don’t have to be stuck. You can wake up one day, and choose something different. All of this is okay. Life is a journey, and there’s no possible way you can forecast every possible little twist and turn. Surrender to what you can’t control, and always do your best. Remain open-minded to what may be next for you. Remember, it’s often not what you thought.
Plans are great, but plans don’t always work out. Don’t become too rigid. And lastly, you won’t ever fully arrive at the destination of who you intend to become. We should always be “becoming”. Life is about the journey.
Being a good human, a nice person, kind, and always grateful is so much more important than what your job title is.
Ask yourself this, “who are you, really?”