One of my greatest fears is waking up one day in a dead end job, with a man I no longer love and feeling trapped. I let this fear control nearly every aspect of my life. This fear has caused me to become tentative and overly cautious when it comes to any sort of decision in my life. I’m too scared to commit completely to one thing or one person for fear that I’ll mess up make the wrong decision. What if I choose the wrong path and end up somewhere with someone that is wrong for me? It’s something I worry about every day of my life. But a friend of mine told me something recently that changed my perspective.

There is no such thing as being stuck in a relationship or a job. There is no such thing as choosing the wrong path in life. Every day you are given choices. So many in fact, that you may not even realize how many you really have. Every moment of your life you are given the opportunity to change your life forever. You will never fall out of love with someone because there is no such thing as falling in love. Loving someone is a choice, a choice that you make every minute you’re with them. There is no such thing as being stuck in a job you hate. You can quit at any minute. It’s never too late to go after what you really want. It’s never too late to travel, or to write that book or start that business you always wanted to.

These days it’s so easy to feel stuck. There is this path that everyone is expected to take in order to be considered “successful.” Go to college and major in something that will guarantee you good money, then date a nice boy and get married either in or right out of school, have kids and live happily ever after. But what that plan doesn’t account for are the things that you feel passionate about. It doesn’t account for the parts of you that are unique and what makes you a distinct individual. You should never have to feel like you have to do something with your life that you don’t want to do. You should never feel like you have to stick with a job or a person, that you don’t want to, due to outside influences pressing down on you.

You have the choice to be whoever you want to be. You can choose to do whatever you want to do, and seek to achieve anything you want to achieve. It’s so easy to feel stuck in your day to day life, but you’re not. Buy the plane ticket, apply for the job you’re too scared to shoot for, ask out that cute guy in your English class. If you feel stuck, go for a drive and just clear your head. Write down your goals and get your priorities in line and don’t be afraid to jump. You’re capable of anything, you just have to want it, and most importantly, you can’t be too scared to try.