Emotional. That’s what it feels like. I mean, really. If we’re going to keep it real and straightforward, it’s a damn emotional rollercoaster. Don’t take that as you’re sitting in your room until 5 AM crying and weeping about your life choices every night kind of thing (maybe). But take it as a stressful, and sometimes even happy situation.
With confusion in your life at 20 comes uncertainty. With uncertainty comes stress…and a LOT of it. Stress about what you want to do with your life, and if you actually want to do it. The worst of the worst has got to be the moment when you sit down and think, “is what I have invested all my time in these past few years actually what I want to do?” Because even if the answer is yes, we somehow manage to convince ourselves that the answer is 100% no.
It may feel like, at this age, that things aren’t coming along the way they should. Guess what, they’re not. I mean, I’m not 80 years old with a lifetime of wisdom here, but I’m 20 and I know how we all feel, so I will not sugar coat it. For most of us, what we had in mind at the beginning of our college careers and the path we envisioned is entirely dissimilar in comparison to the path we are currently on. And yes, it does feel like things aren’t going your way, but I guess that’s just the way life works, right?
One day it will all make sense. I hope. You’ve probably heard this a million times, but life works in funny ways.
Everything happens for a reason. Although that reason may not be so clear to us right now, one day it will shine a bright light into our lives and everything will fall in place.
You see, that last paragraph is an issue for me. These are things we are told by, well, basically everyone. In a way, it seems as though society is lying to their emerging adults to instill a sense of reassurance that everything is going to be okay and it’s your life path and everything is meant to be. My personal favorite – “It’ll come to you” Well, when? When will it “come” to me? What actually is “it”? Confusion at 20, and in your 20’s in general does not only arise from your own personal struggles and endeavors, but from the external factors that affect your decisions.
All we can really do is take things day by day. Don’t stop thinking about your future, but don’t allow it to drown you and suffocate you into thinking you will never be happy. Don’t be fooled by your friends and colleagues on social media who claim they have it all together, because they don’t. They’re actually the ones who are the most confused, but choose to mask it with this layer of fake persona. And never, ever forget…you’re not the only one.
