Today I am writing this for you and me. Whatever your age, whatever stage in your life or career path, relationship status, major, etc. in this moment it does not matter, because this applies to everyone. We all question ourselves thinking, "Am i making the right major/career choice?", "Am I happy in this relationship?" or "are any of these decisions in my life the right ones to make?". It can be debilitating, having this inner conflict within yourself, visualizing pros and cons lists and "future tripping" on the worst possible scenarios. Sure, you can hope for validation on the decisions you've made in your life from friends and family, but when it comes down to it, you and yourself have to ultimately check off the boxes and comfortably sit in the life you have made for yourself. I have struggled with this a lot lately, being a senior and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life with graduation fast approaching, figuring out what makes me happy or who makes me happy. Taking in to account what I want, or what I "should" want, what would make my family proud, what I would consider to be success in my life, and constantly questioning if I am doing things correctly. Sooner or later your brain will explode from going into a tail spin of a million scenarios playing out in your head.
In Cheryl Strayed's book Brave Enough, she writes on the stress of questioning one's self saying, "It's folly to measure your success in money or fame. Success is measured only by your ability to say yes to these two questions: Did I do the work I needed to do? and Did I give it everything I had?". That quote made it easier to compartmentalize my thoughts in two parts and those two questions are always in the back of my mind now. And I believe they could apply to any aspect of your life you are questioning. If the answer is "yes" to each question, then that should put you at ease with a helpful insight into where you intend to go. If the answer is "no" to either question, what could you change or do differently to make it a "yes"? And if you don't know how to change it more than likely the universe has got you covered, because it is never the end of the world if, its most likely a really strange turn you did not expect taking in your life. You know yourself better than anyone else and it is also a blessing to have those inner conflicts to keep you confident, motivated and always striving to want more. Trust that you are making the right decisions for yourself solely based on your own happiness and nothing else, and put your mind at ease knowing that everything will turn out just fine. Because you are hardworking, altruistic, kind and rational and you are doing the best you can and it is impossible to fail at life because there are no wrong answers.
