From the first moment you rise in the morning to the last minute before sleep you are making choices. Young men and women in their late teens and early twenties are asked to make some of the most meaningful choices in their lives without experience or practical knowledge to back them up. What college do you want to attend? What college can you afford? Who is paying for college? What will be your major? Do you want to join the military? Do you want to get married? Do you want children? Do you want to travel? Do you want to learn a trade? Do you want to go straight to a 9 to 5 job? I am getting nauseous just writing this so imagine how a young adult might react. Fear. Remember that feeling? (those of us past thirty five?) When you ask adults at what age they felt comfortable in their own skin most reply at the age of thirty. (some say never and that is another blog entirely) All of us can and will change careers or life paths. However, I am focusing on young adulthood. There is so much pressure on young adults to make many uninformed choices based only on projection rather than reality. It's a lot like buying car insurance. Young women especially have more choices than ever before and choices can be overwhelming. Possibilties and dreams of the future give us extraordinary hope but without a plan or a goal in mind you start to panic. Recently, a young woman I met at work admitted she felt "old" at twenty-five. Twenty-five!? Her friends were getting married and having children. She wants to make her own decisions and needs to explore her career options before settling down. Rather than age being the issue, society, family, and monetary obligations often force us to commit to careers, marriage and children before we know ourselves or understand what makes us truly happy. The choices we make dictate the life we lead but we must reassure young adults that change and growth is part of our journey and if they make mistakes or fail they will always have options. They will always have a choice.
