If you’re anything like me, you’ve been feeling trapped lately – like you know this isn’t where you’re supposed to be, but you have no idea how to change it or what to do next. For me, that place is university. I thought I was ready to start this new chapter of my life, but I’ve realized that university may not be for me. That thought terrified me at first, but now I know what I never would have if I hadn’t tried it. So, whether my next adventure is making it through the next four years of university or taking a few years off to work or travelling the world, I have accepted that I may just have to try everything to see what is right for me – which might not be such a terrible thing.
I’ve compiled a list of the top ten songs that encourage me and give me hope that my new adventure – whatever that may be – will happen when it’s meant to happen. Hopefully they inspire you too!
1. “Road Less Travelled” – Lauren Alaina
Everything about this song is perfection (seriously, have a listen; it’ll become your new favourite too!), but the one line that really stood out for me was “history gets made when you’re acting a fool.” Life really isn’t as serious and complicated as we seem to make it, and it’s important to remember that the most unexpected, spontaneous moments are usually the most unforgettable. We should be doing things because we enjoy them, not because they’re what everyone expects us to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NAEvc-b6E
2. “Nothing Like Starting Over” – Hunter Hayes
I love this song because it always reminds me that these are our lives. We get to choose what we want to do with them and we are the ones that have to live with those choices. I love the line “writing a new page to say what you want to say” because, in this story we call “our lives,” we can stop in the middle of a page and start over if we don’t like what’s happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz_5HdK-qaI
3. “Anywhere But Here” – Brian Melo
An oldie, but a goodie! I have always loved this song because I couldn’t wait to graduate from high school and leave my small town. It always seemed so simple: life would get better as soon as I got out. But now, the line “the future is finally clear; it’s anywhere but here” reminds me, not that the future is anywhere but my hometown, but that it is anywhere but the places I have tried so far. There is so much of the world left to explore. There has to be at least one place where we each belong; we just might not have found it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEuk_K8GK98
4. “Where It All Begins” – Hunter Hayes
This song is all about learning and growing from our mistakes: “if you never get knocked down, you’ll never learn how to fight.” We need to learn to look at our mistakes as stepping stones to becoming the people we are meant to be, rather than as defining aspects of our characters. It is not the end of the world if a choice we make doesn’t turn out like we expected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gEylHzA2w
5. “A Different Beat” – Little Mix
I love this song because it’s all about dancing to the beat of your own drum. I especially love the line “I might be young, but I know my mind; I’m sick of being told what’s wrong or right.” I feel like so many adults try to tell our generation what the best way to live is, and that can be so frustrating. We need to be able to make our own decisions, even if they turn out to be the wrong ones. I don’t care what is “wrong” or what is “right”; I just want to pursue what is going to make me happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6v7phjvkHI
6. “My Church” – Maren Morris
In my experience, there isn’t too much that driving with the radio on can’t fix: “when I need to find my escape, I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling.” There’s something about driving that is calming, letting me forget about the worries in my life for a little while, and helping me to realize what I truly want out of my life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWQ25O-Mcg
7. “Dream Catch Me” – Newton Faulkner
This song just makes you feel good after listening to it. The whole message is to “do anything [you] want; be anything [you] want to be,” which I think is really important to hear at this stage in our lives. When we’re little, everyone always tells us we can be anything we want to be but, as we get older, that message is changed to “you can be anything you want to be … as long as it’s practical.” Now is the time for us to be young and carefree and take a million different chances on crazy ideas to determine what we like; it’s not the time to have everything figured out for certain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-Why8N2I0
8. “Take The World by Storm” – Lukas Graham
Lukas Graham is all about not following the crowd, but this song especially resonates with my theme of trying new things. I fell in love with this song because it is about travelling and that is something I have always been passionate about. But now, the line “I wanna see what I haven’t seen, cause I know there’s more” isn’t so much about travelling the world as it is about finding where we fit in (whether that’s across the world or not), and leaving our mark there. There is so much more that should be experienced in this life than just the places we were born.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is00ObfIUSQ
9. “Dare You to Try” – Jordan McIntosh
This song should be the anthem for every girl who wants to make a change in her life. I am notorious for being painfully indecisive, so the line “your biggest mistake is the one you’re too afraid to make” really stuck with me. Now is the time to try new things! Maybe they’ll turn out to be the worst decisions we’ve ever made, but at least we’ll know. Wouldn’t you so much rather live with funny stories to tell your grandchildren someday than have to live with the regret of not taking a risk on something that was right in front of you?
https://media.giphy.com/media/cudLpeMeZEhwI/giphy.gif
10. “Don’t Forget Where You Belong” – One Direction
Finally, no matter how badly we want to get away from our hometowns when we start university, it is so important to remember where we came from as we embark on our journeys into the real world. I know, personally, I felt really lonely my first few months of university so it was really nice to hear the line “if you ever feel alone, don’t; you were never on your own” and realize that it was true. No matter where my life takes me – whether that’s staying here or going home or moving across the world – I know that there are people in my life who will support me and who I can always return to if my adventures don’t go according to plan.