Summary

A young adult grapples with the decision to pursue a writing career instead of a traditional job after college, facing the challenge of disagreeing with parents who desire a more secure path for their child.

Abstract

The author, nearing the end of their college education, is torn between the expected route of securing a job post-graduation and the desire to become a writer. This internal conflict reaches a climax when they must communicate their unconventional aspirations to their parents, who anticipate a stable career stemming from the college degree. The narrative underscores the emotional turmoil of choosing a path that diverges from parental expectations, emphasizing the importance of self-acceptance and the inevitability of confrontations when making decisions from the heart. The author concludes that the true essence of youth is not just in making one's own decisions but also in accepting the disagreements that may arise from loved ones, advocating for the pursuit of personal happiness despite the potential for conflict.

Opinions

The author believes that the most challenging aspect of young adulthood is not the decision to follow one's dreams but rather the act of informing loved ones of a decision they may not support.
There is an understanding that conflict and confrontation are unavoidable parts of life, particularly when making personal choices that deviate from the norm or expectations of others.
The author suggests that while making decisions that align with one's own desires can lead to anger and disappointment from parents, it is crucial to stand by these choices as they are integral to personal fulfillment and happiness.
The piece advises that over time, those who initially disagreed with a personal decision may come to recognize its validity if it is made with sincerity and from the heart.
The author posits that it is essential for young adults to forge their own path in life, accepting that this may lead to confrontations, but ultimately it is their own call to make.

A Piece of Advice I Gave Myself, That Made My Young Adult Life Much Easier

Agree to Disagree

Photo by theplanetspeaks.app on Unsplash | Logo Added by Daan Uijterwaal

I just don’t want to… I said.

Don’t be so naive. The world isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. You’ll waste your college degree if you do this. My dad answered.

I was almost at the end of college. Just a month or two and I would be graduating. It should have been a stressful, yet exciting period. To me, it felt different.

It was stressful, yet not exciting at all. For the past couple of years, I had been fighting with myself. My motivation to finish college was lacking and I wanted to drop out so that I could pursue a career as a writer.

It was time I shared this with my parents. Which was the hardest part. What was I gonna say?

Making a Tough Call

I had been thinking about it for a long time and talked with friends about it. It wasn’t a good idea to drop out. I was so close to finishing college, and it didn’t take much effort. What I decided was that I wouldn’t find a job after graduation. I wasn’t about to go into a 9 to 5 job doing something that I didn’t enjoy.

That’s what I wanted to share with my parents. That the past 4 years of college, which were supposed to lead me to a secure job, weren’t gonna be used for that. It was the hardest thing I had to do for the entirety of my time in college. To tell my parents that I wasn’t gonna pursue a path they wanted me to pursue.

I think a lot of young adults struggle with this moment. To share their dreams with their parents. Now some parents are supportive of this sudden change. Others aren’t, because they too are scared.

It’s not the decision whether or not we want to pursue our dreams that’s the hardest part about being young. It’s telling the people we love that we are about to make a decision that they don’t agree with that’s the hardest part.

The thing is, we as young adults, know there are plenty of possibilities out there if we work hard for it. We know that we have to make this choice because we are young and should try things. It’s part of life, isn’t it? It’s not the decision of whether or not we want to pursue our dreams that’s the hardest part about being young. It’s telling the people we love that we are about to make a decision that they don’t agree with that’s the hardest part.

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It was time for me to say it. To share what I was going to do after college. To say the least, it was a tough call. I was scared. Scared of the confrontation between me and my parents. I knew they were gonna disagree with me, and get angry.

That was the hardest part. To accept that some decisions I would make for my life weren’t gonna be supported by those I love.

I did make that decision and openly shared with my parents that I wasn’t gonna make the decision they would want me to make. We had a fight. We didn’t come to an agreement. A lot of anger and tears were spilled in those days. But finally, I gave myself a piece of advice that changed everything for me.

To be young means to learn to make your own decisions. More importantly to find acceptance with the disagreement others have for those decisions.

It’s Your Call Will You Accept It?

To be young means to learn to make your own decisions. More importantly to find acceptance with the disagreement others have for those decisions.

I think that’s the most important piece of advice I gave myself as a young adult. I will carry it with me for the rest of my life.

I used to avoid confrontations by not making my own decision and following the advice of others. I didn’t want to create a conflict between me and those I loved. But sooner or later we will all understand that conflict and confrontations are inevitable. What’s more important for us as young adults isn’t to make decisions that others accept, but to learn to accept that others will not always agree with our decisions.

What I learned from the confrontations with my parents is that we both want the same. We just see it differently. We all want to do what makes us happy, we all want to live secure lives, but what we do to live such a life differs from person to person.

It’s easy to avoid confrontations, but that won’t help us move on in life. We need to follow our own life’s path. Only we can know what’s the right decision to make. It will mean some people might get upset, and angry with you. It’s nothing to blame them for. We don’t need to get angry with them in return, that’s fighting fire with fire.

If we make a decision from the heart sooner or later the people who disagreed with your decision, will see that it was the right call to make.

All we should do is understand that it’s okay for people to disagree with our decision. That they might get angry, and that there will be a confrontation. Yet if we make that decision from the heart sooner or later these people will see that it was the right call to make.

And it is your call, and your call alone to make. So choose what’s right for you. Follow your path in life, knowing that it will create some confrontations and friction. Or will you avoid confrontation seeing where that path leads you? In both cases, the most important thing is that you can find acceptance with it. So that either decision won’t influence the joy that we can experience in life.

For today we live, we can fall in love with that life every single day. So that we can make the most of it.