For the longest time, I thought that I needed to have my life together after college. Immediately as I graduated, I thought that I had to have my career in mind, know where I was going to live and what jobs that I needed to apply for. I knew I needed to know what path to go down and to have a goal in mind that I’d strive for as soon as I walked across the stage with my college bachelors degree. The thing is, society pressures us to have this huge idea to get a job straight out of college and if not then you need to go back and get your masters because a bachelors degree isn’t good enough anymore. In realty, it is okay not to know. Some people are destined for certain things to happen to them and are destined for opportunities that come after them for them to accept. It could be a number of things and choices to make, but eventually, we get there. We need to go and find where we belong at our own pace. I was a huge culprit of this, but through my own experience I learned you don’t need to panic because you’re unsure of what you want to do right here and right now. Making a decision about your life and the meaning of it is a very difficult thing to have to do. It’s a really big choice to make and honestly is probably going to change throughout your lifetime, many times.
Change is okay. It is uncomfortable. It is hard. It is different. But it is okay. You grow. You learn. You start figuring out the things you like and don’t like. It is normal to have many different emotions when it comes to change.
When I got here in Galway, it was a huge change for me. It is a completely different culture. I had to learn how to adapt. But most importantly, I had to learn how to be independent. It would be a lie if I sat here and told you every day is easy, because it isn’t. But then I realized, that is life and at the end of the day it is how I chose to get through it.
The bottom line is, knowing every detail of your life isn’t necessary. I’ve had to sacrifice certain things in order to get where I am now, but that’s the battle of life. When making a choice, we’re favoring one thing while turning another thing away. We know consciously what choices we want to make, so make sure to follow through with whatever choice that may be and don’t second guess it. I was recently just told by a loved one of mine that everything you do in your lifetime is ultimately your own decision. You create the path you want to go down. But whatever that path you chose to take, you genuinely have to try it and give it a chance.
The path I chose to take was Ireland. Ireland is where I am supposed to be. I got chosen to be part of the Sport Changes Life program for a reason. I was placed in Galway, Ireland for a reason. I am getting my masters for reason. I am continuing my basketball career for a reason. Every day it becomes more clear to me what my purpose here is supposed to be.
If you could take away one thing after reading this, I hope you take away that everyone has a purpose in life. But to find out your purpose, you can’t be afraid of discomfort. If you can’t put yourself in a situation where you are uncomfortable, then you will never grow. You will never change. You’ll never learn.
~ Karlee
