Decisions

When I was on my mission I remember my mission president talking about how missionaries struggle with returning home because so many important life decisions are made right after getting home. I was so stupid. I didn't believe him. I thought that based on all the things that I had learned and applied to my life I would be totally fine.

It has taken me a little while to realize that the toughest decisions that I have had to make are based on my own life and the things I believe or choose to be. I have had to choose to live my life a certain way. I have had to choose what to study, who I want to date, etc. So many different things. It can seem daunting when you have all these decisions facing you, but tackling them one by one makes them a little bit easier.

I have one decision that has been weighing on my shoulders for about 6 years now. What it is that I want to do as a profession. It has been something that I have thought about since I was 16. It's hard to believe that my 5-year plan, written with my parents, has now pretty much come to an end. I need another plan, and that has had my mind perturbed. I have known for a while that there are things that I need to do in life and things that I want to do in life, but up until this week I have been a big ninny and haven't accepted these things.

Now is the time. 

I've decided.

I want to go into Education.

It sounds so weird, but feels so right. It also has taken a lot for me to realize that maybe that's what I really need to do. Obviously there are more things that I need to determine, more decisions that need to be made, but this feels like a GIANT step in the right direction. So many sleepless nights, prayers, hours at the temple. It's crazy that it feels like the answer was right in front of me the whole time, I was just too slow to realize that.

One of the most important things that I have never lost sight of throughout this whole process is this talk. It changed my life. It helped me to realize that God would help me understand where I need to be to help the most people. I have never given up hope that I wouldn't be able to do what it is that I need to do. Asking for a confirmation of my decisions, praying for guidance, pleading for patience to be able to understand His timeline, none of it was in vain. (The most annoying thing that I had to deal with was answering the question: What do you want to do in life? I never had a definitive answer.)

Well, the journey is just beginning. And if any of you are like my parents then you might be like, "Here goes Braden with another hair-brained idea of his." Bear with me. I'm still a work in progress. Just trying to make world-changing decisions one by one.