What next? (April 2016)

Source: Ilikewallpaper.net

Have you ever had the feeling of: “Ah, what shall I do now with my life? What is the next ‘best’ choice”?

Having recently graduated, I face that exact same question that undoubtedly so many others do. Leaving the comfortable and protected space under the ‘wing’ of Alma Mater, we have to make choices. “The world is mine”, as the famous song (OK, not so famous perhaps) goes – I could virtually chose any place on the map and build a life there. So many possible paths and options.

So, what’s next?

The trouble of choice

The generation of our parents and grandparents often faced a life with little to no choice – you had to work on the field if you wanted food, you would live in the same village or town, or at least in one country only, and most people worked in one place for 20-30-40 years, one job, one town, one factory.

Our generation is confronted with the other extreme: vast, incomprehensible availability of choice. Wanna live in (whatever country)? There’s the airport. Wanna study (name it) subject? Here’s a long list of universities in various countries. Wanna work in (name a country)? Just go and do it. The combination of choice(s) is uncountable, and facing it can be  overwhelming. To make matters worse, some of us, like myself, tend to endlessly doubt and re-think the choices made. Yes, silly and unproductive, but it is linked to the trouble of choice, and is not easy to overcome. Or am I the only one troubled here? I doubt.

‘There must be something better!’

A trap I face personally is the constant seeking of ‘better options’. That is, you (think you) chose one place, but it is not rare to hear a voice in your head: “Arghh.. that [other] place… I could have been there now! The weather/people/food/education/job/standard of living is better there!” And you almost regret the choice you made, not living fully in the here and now, and definitely not living in that other, ‘better’ place, leaving oneself in a sort of a ‘nowhere’. But is there a cure to it? I’d be glad to hear opinions and input.

The deeper question: What do I really want?

Today, after work, I sat down and wrote for about an hour. Just threw my thoughts on a sheet of paper, and, reflecting upon the above-described themes, I reached the conclusion that these are intrinsically linked to answering the question for oneself: “What do I really want?” Not my parents, my friends, or anyone else. To discover this lifelong question (it definitely has no static answer), we need to get closer to ourselves, and try to feel the pulse of our own destiny and heart. For, if we do not, this quote of Seneca is very applicable:

For a ship that knows not its port of destination, no wind is good wind.

How to find one’s ‘port of destination’?

By doing, and not over-thinking (a notorious trap). Just get your hands on something and try. Even if the port is not perfectly visible, you are still moving. For if the ship stands still at quay, it definitely will reach no port.

And you, what is your port of destination?