There are no mistakes, just learning experiences.

I've become somewhat fascinated with this twenty-something stage of life I'm currently navigating... or trying to navigate, at least. Conversations between my once inseparable friends are now separated by miles and office hours, but we stay in touch with text messages and brief phone calls that are usually riddled with the same cyclical topics: I never saw this coming. Did I make the right decision? I want more out of life. Am I on the right path? I miss college. Where do I go from here?

Within my best friend circle, though, there is a resounding emphasis on the Did I make the right decision? dilemma, and I must assume this is the case for plenty of people sitting at the same point in their lives. I know I'm not the only one who has felt a bit paralyzed by uncertainty or regret at one point or another, so I thought I'd share a tidbit I've found extremely helpful.

About a week ago, after becoming fed up with the way my mind was stuck analyzing the same decisions over and over, I started looking at things differently. Intentionally. And I can honestly say it's making me a much happier person. Call it waving the white flag, but I decided to give in to my anxiety about the near and distant past. Who says life is full of rights and wrongs? We're all finding our way through different pathways, and no road map or compass could ever hold all the answers we'd ask for. And let's be honest, there's no way to really know if it was right or wrong, anyway. 

So why not switch it up? Rather than fretting over those seemingly life-changing forks in the road, I've resolved with myself to make the best possible decision in the situation I'm given, then consider it not right nor wrong, but action and experience worth learning from. For someone like me, the action itself is what matters. Complacency, settling, and being stuck in one place without progress seem quite miserable, and actually doing something seems to be the only way to a better experience. 

Take a risk. Allow yourself to reflect. Learn from it.
If you successfully do that, you're inevitably going to end up right where you belong.

"Don't get so overwhelmed about your choices that you become paralyzed. Just take a step forward in any direction and try something out, even if you're scared or unsure of the outcome. That's what this age is all about; there are no mistakes, just learning experiences." --Nerissa G., University of California, Santa Barbara in Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want