The common, "What am I supposed to do with my life?" question has been ringing in my head like the headaches that arrived on Fridays in college. I thought maybe it was just me, but in the last 48 hours I've heard 4 other people ask me the same question. My friend numbers in the 262 are pretty low, so I'd say that's about 75% of the people I've talked to in the last two days.
It seems like a ginormous daunting task to plan out my life at 23. Heck that sounds terrible at 50. Half of your life is still left! But we constantly feel like we need to be planning for the next thing, our next move, our next step in success to get to that end goal that we have no clue what it is.
Often I ask myself questions that I'm sure many of you have before to try and figure out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing in life:
- Where do you want to be in 20 years?
- What do you want your life to look like?
- What do you enjoy doing?
- What would make you happy?
So, here's what I'm struggling with. All of those questions focus on me, but this life isn't about me. Am I saying you should be miserable you're whole life? No. I'm saying, you weren't put on this earth to live your life for you. God put you here to serve other people, to make the world a better place, to be his disciples, using the strengths HE gave you.
What I'm saying is we all need to quit our jobs and become missionaries and monks and all the world's problems would be solved. Insert a high level of sarcasm.
For me, it's a constant struggle of not giving back to the world enough. Especially when there are 18 year olds starting their own business and donating half their profits to a charity over seas. I feel like I should volunteer more or do this or that. A constant need to fill my life with more activities. When instead, maybe that isn't at all how God needs me right now.
Instead of trying to plan out our lives for the next 40+ years asking the questions above, let's change the question. Maybe it's a matter of asking, "Where does God want me now?" Maybe it's trusting that he has you right where he wants you at this very moment in time and when HE is ready, he'll open the next door for you. Maybe it's realizing He is preparing you for something in the near or far off future. My question is, "Will you be ready?" Will you be ready to take that leap of faith and change course when He calls you?
Or maybe, just maybe, where you're at isn't about you at all, but helping somebody else.
Or maybe, just maybe, where you're at isn't about you at all, but helping somebody else.
Sometimes, just being a friend, making somebody laugh, or reminding a colleague just how much they are appreciated is all God wants from you today. He never told us we need to change the world, but you darn well better make today count because you are never guaranteed a tomorrow.
"Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. you have enough to worry about today." Matthew 6:34
