I recently went through a period of sheer fear and confusion. Wow, such a credible way to start a piece right; but hear me out. I was lucky enough to have parents that allowed me to choose my career path. They always told me that as long as I was happy with my decisions everything would work out. As a freshman in college, I hear this from other adults as well. Advisors, mentors, and other parental figures stress the importance of happiness, along with practicality of course. Recently, I interviewed a professor in the business school for a project in one of my classes. One of the questions I had to ask him was if he had any advice for anyone unsure of what they want to do. I expected the cliche answer of happiness being a priority; instead, I got the cold truth that I didn’t know I needed. He answered that the feeling of fulfillment should be our priority rather than happiness. I questioned this because shouldn’t happiness imply that you are fulfilled? Turns out, I had it completely backwards. Happiness is a fleeting emotion, he said. You have good days and bad days filled with happiness and sadness. Fulfillment, however, remains through it all. This took me a while to understand because I was trained to value happiness more than anything. But he’s right; feelings like happiness and sadness go away as quickly as they come. So I challenge you to apply this to you current position. If you’re like me and are still learning about what you think you like, remember to keep fulfillment in mind. If you’re well into your career, ask yourself if you feel fulfilled. I hope that at some point in you life, you find yourself feeling satisfied and fulfilled with the choices you made.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SLU chapter.