The sound of muffled jazz music flowed through the bridal shop, and happy to be fulfilling my bridesmaid duties, I wandered through rows and rows of white dresses while my best friend tried on wedding gowns.
“You’re next!” her grandma said to me with a reassuring smile.
I smiled back, and as I plopped down in a cold metal and white lace chair, I felt my stomach sink. “I’m next?” I wondered. Surely she wasn’t talking about me. I rummaged through my purse trying to find some chapstick, only to pull out crumpled gum wrappers, receipts, and a smushed power bar instead. There’s no way I’m next. I sat there puzzled.
How had we ended up here? We were the same age, we were supposed to be stuck in the same “broke college student still trying to figure out life” phase, only somehow she had surpassed it entirely. Here I was, regarding Cup of Noodles as a legit food group, and my best friend was planning a wedding. Lately, it seemed like all of my friends—everyone I encountered, for that matter—had passed through the phase without hesitation, and I somehow, was stuck. Everyone seems to have their five-year plan, summer internships locked in, and career opportunities lined up. It’s so easy to feel like somewhere along the lines you’ve fallen behind; like even though you’re at the same school, taking the same classes, somehow you’re still ten steps behind them, with no real plan on how to catch up.
However, after much consideration, I have developed a theory. It’s the thing no one wants to admit, it’s the thing a lot of people won’t admit—no on has their life together right now! Baffling, I know. My theory is this: we’re all still trying to figure it out. We’re all entering into and exploring adulthood down our own paths, figuring out how to do our taxes and miraculously keep our indoor plants alive without watering them.
Don’t get me wrong, you can plan and prepare for a lot of things in life, like saving enough money to pay your rent, or studying for a final, but knowing how you’re going to leap from college student to career woman is nearly impossible. Life is all about making it up as you go. I feel like no one ever tells you that its okay to not have your life figured out at twenty-two, it’s okay to take time to figure out where your interests lie, and its even okay to get a degree and pursue a different career entirely. There’s no right way or wrong way to do life. So before your Pinterest starts filling up with wedding dresses and ring sizes, take a deep breath. Most of these people are just “fakin’ it till they make it.”
Image via [Google Images]