We are smack dab in the middle of growing season, and perhaps you may be, too. Long ago soil was tilled, and seeds were planted, monitored and supplied with the elements that they needed for optimum growth in anticipation of a bountiful harvest. Though no one watered you or exposed you to full sun (we hope), your parents, teachers, guides and mentors have been tending to your needs and watching you grow into a young adult. Most likely, they have also advised you about what college/university you should attend or what career they think would be best for you. And who is better suited for that? They have the wisdom gleaned from both successes and failures in their own life experiences, as well as the insights about your strengths and capabilities from having been with you from the beginning, witnessing and contributing to their cultivation. That is a priceless blessing not to be underestimated.
Information from the people who know you best is useful when discerning a major life decision, but it is also important to remember that only you can know what is in your heart – what your deepest desires are. Just as it would be fruitless for a farmer to try to convince a tomato seed to grow into a watermelon, trying to be what you are not, especially to please or fulfill the expectations of someone else, will not be fruitful for you in the long run. The pressures young people feel from society’s definitions of what success is or from feeling their heart pulled in a direction other than what those closest to them are expecting can feel like a burden too heavy to break through. And sometimes you don’t find out something isn’t right for you until you try it out.
Be patient with God’s time. Pay attention to when you feel excited, purposeful or content with your studies, work or other activities and those times that you don’t. Hold all these things and ponder them in your heart as Mary did (Luke 2:19) and trust that God will help reveal the unique way that you will grow into who you have been created to be to live a happy, fruitful life.
