Everyone has decided that at the tender age of 16 I should know what I want to do with my life – where I want to go, who I want to be and I can’t corroborate that. I’m fluid, I’m neutral and indecisive. Never underestimate my ability to be indecisive. Ask me a question and I’ll give you an ambiguous response. Even simple choices are difficult for me. I enjoy living in the moment and surviving day by day. I revel in the back up plans I make of far off travels and detailed guides of future careers, but I just don’t know yet. I think this indecisiveness applies to more than just teenage plans and ideas.

I’m expected to like one certain type of thing and nothing from any other category. Why can’t I be more than one thing? Why can’t we all be more? I love classical music alongside alternative, rock, pop, even the occasional country and dance. I adore reading and painting and playing games and running (when I feel like it) and math and school, but never at the same moment.

One week I can be relishing in the deep riches of emotion that emanates from a Monet painting and perhaps the very next day I’ll consider taking up linguistics. My hobbies and interests can change faster than the weather or my moods and I see no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to say “I don’t know what I want to do with my life” without fearing a lecture or disapproval. I can safely say I know what I don’t want to do with my life.

Of the very few things I expect of the world, I expect acceptance, of everyone and for everyone. It’s being a decent human and by God’s greatest gift I deserve it. I deserve decency and so does everyone else struggling with self-identity and seeking what’s right for them. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. I don’t know what my favorite color is today or what I want or what I like, and maybe I’ll figure it out or spend the rest of my life trying.

For everyone who is still trying to figure everything out, it’s okay to struggle and not know what you want. Live in the moment. Explore. Try new things. We’ve been told that this is our time of discovery and we should be able to hold them to their words. For those who’ve figured it all out, lend an ear and an arm to those around you. We need all the hugs we can get.