If you asked me five months ago where I would be on this very day, I would be settling into a life in Los Angeles, working my tail off to launch a writing career.  But if there’s anything true about making plans, it is that God will usually laugh in your face and have something different in store for you.

My perfect plan was to work out the summer at my part-time job and save enough money that would allow me to be comfortable and head out for the west coast shortly after my brother’s wedding.  But after leaving my job earlier than I anticipated, my plans had to be adjusted.  I began to search for my next job in California and broadened my horizons to other cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and Pittsburgh.  The only problem with those awesome jobs, which no one really wants to talk about, is that it is hard to get started in a completely new city.  The road to finding your first real job is loaded with rejection, no matter your list of qualifications.  I began to realize that in order to start off my career on the best note possible, I should use the advantages afforded me in Buffalo.

That is when I lucked out.  I found a job that was a perfect blend of what I studied and researched throughout college and encompassed my passion for writing and communication. At a place that felt like home and the people felt like family! What could be more perfect than that? Actually, in a world where friends are still looking for jobs in their field or have given up and switched their career path altogether, or worse have come to completely hate their job and field, I am beyond lucky, I am blessed.

That is when I really learned that you can plan life as hard as you want, but sometimes there will be obstacles and blessings that will throw things off course.  It can be a frustrating, yet exciting process that brings you to the place you’re been meant to be. We can never truly envision what awaits us in the future and we have no idea where one place, experience or person can take us.  I never envisioned where my years in college would lead me, nor how they would transform me.  It’s weird to say, but now that my plans have been turned upside down, I am excited to see just what this new chapter has in store for me.

I know this next venture is very much new and fresh and it is hard to see beyond that. But despite the newness, I know this next step is right.  It may not have been what I planned so many months ago, but right now it not only works for where I am in my life, it is what I need at this moment.

The greatest lesson is learning that you can’t cross the finish line without putting in the work. I need to not be the quintessential entitled Millennial and realize that I can’t start at the top nor can I have everything I hope unfold all at once. It will take incredible hard work, the time for the process to play out and faith that whatever comes my way is what is meant to be. I may not be at the top, but I know I am not at the bottom and certainly where I am will be a place of achievement, challenge and fulfillment.

This position will challenge me and force me to learn in new and different ways.  It will bring me to the company of new colleagues and a completely new organization.  It will allow me to work on my craft and fulfill my passions.  It will bring with it moments that will crush me, bring out my doubts and have me question my capabilities.  It will also bring with it successes, the feelings of achievement and restore my faith in what I have to offer.

This new chapter is unfolding right now, and if anything it has taught me that at times while plans are well intended, God is greater and life is stronger than anything we can dream up.  We just need to have faith that the passions that ignite our souls are the very guiding force of our own destiny.  Whether we plan it or not, those passions will get us to where we need to be as we jump through every new development that throws our plans to the side.