Confusion Is Key

Now what?

It is one of the most resonant and fearful refrains I hear among people our age. We have followed the path most traveled and recommended to its discussed end and then...

My mother refuses to tell me what to do. "You're an adult," she tells me. "Get a job." But doing what? Where? Who do I date? What career is going to make me happy? When should I marry? Or go back to graduate school? Or buy a house? Why did they re-elect that idiot who is making it so hard for me to get a job out of college? These are just some of the few questions that we are asking ourselves as we realize that there is no Cliff's Notes for life.

And without a little guidance, the answers to these questions can be a little hard to find. You can barely decide on what you want for dinner, let alone what career you want to start out with. Take for instance, my situation. I'm a big city Southern girl from Atlanta. I love where I'm from and I know that one day I want to go back because Louisville is neither big nor Southern. I'm a writer and it would be easier to make a living in Atlanta, but...my contacts are here in Louisville. So what do I do? When my novel is published, I'm moving back home, but what do I do in the meantime? I'm in career limbo and my pockets are paying the price.

And I know mine isn't the only story out there like this. It is hard being the age we are in the time period we are in and no one seems to want to help. But part of growing up is making our own decisions. When we get shoved out of the nest, we are to assert ourselves by flying, even if it means flying in crazy circles.

Who, what, when, where and why? Those questions are to be answered by you and the only way you can answer those questions is to tune out all well-intentioned (and some not well-intentioned) people and listen to that voice inside you. Only you know what's right for you. Don't listen to money concerns or pride. Just do you, boo, as my sister says. You'll eventually stop flying in those crazy circles.