I was scrolling through my old TikToks the other day — yes I know, a great place for inspiration — and I came across a video I had made about two years ago that had to do with my plans for the future. The video highlighted my intentions to go to UCLA, study psychology, get my masters and join the marines.
I am currently attending Baylor University, studying journalism and did not, in fact, join the marines. This led me to think about all the things I currently have planned for my future. Where I want to live, when I want to get married, how many kids I hope to have, etc., and I established that I may have a planning problem.
Though I don’t find myself disappointed about the things from the TikTok that didn’t come true, I do find quite frequently that I let myself down trying to plan my life away. American culture is extremely fast paced and competitive, which I believe alters our perceptions about the future. It changes ‘dreams’ to ‘requirements’ and makes new courses of action feel like disappointments or failures. Planning is healthy, but planning your life away is not. Ambition is important, but so is living in the moment. I don’t know what will change in the next five years, so how can I expect myself to have plans for where I’ll live when I graduate?
As a college student, there is a huge pressure to be able to identify what it is I want to do with my life. Better yet, who I want to be. It’s essentially what I will spend the next four years working towards. Part of this is making plans. Deciding on good organizations for internships, looking at future courses, learning more about the jobs my field of study offers. However, I think there is a fine line between preparing yourself and trying to make ‘set in stone’ decisions about where life is going to take you, because ultimately you’re not the one in control. Only God knows with certainty where I will be after college, or even tomorrow for that matter, so when I try to prepare for my future I need to remind myself if things don’t go how I intended it doesn’t mean I failed. It means God rerouted me.
So yes, look into good places to work for the summer and explore locations you would be interested in building your life in the future. But don’t depend on life following that trajectory because, as the saying goes, sometimes life happens. Though I never fully appreciated it, and oftentimes I found myself fighting against her, my mom was always sure to remind me that the future is out of my control. No it’s not, I would think as I looked at the to-do list sitting in front of me. But in the end, I will begrudgingly admit she was right. I have goals and hopes for the future, some of which seem more concrete than others, but I have no total certainty. Furthermore, I’m more comforted in knowing that although I would like for my life to follow the path I have in mind, it is okay to embrace the unknown and lean into the promise that God has it all planned out. Don’t plan your life away, embrace the moment right now before you’re looking back on it questioning how it went by so quickly. ✔