Choices

I just recently spoke with a dear friend of mine about her efforts to audition for "The Amazing Race."  This dear friend is a recently turned twenty-five year old at a crossroads in life.  Although the holder of a Bachelor's degree in business, this friend, (we'll call her Kathy), is unemployed due to a crisis of self this past summer.  After graduating from a prestigious college two years ago and landing an office job that paid well and had benefits, Kathy, like many others I've spoken to in similar situations, found herself in an unstimulated state of near misery.  The routine of clock-watching, document-editing, and a cubicle-hell life of unending in-box requests made Kathy nearly lose her mind after only one year.  It wasn't so much the present routine that scared her off, but rather the thought that if she didn't break away now, she'd be sucked in for life.  Although elated after the initial breakaway, Kathy is still at a crossroads and unsure of where to go next...six months later.  She's chosen to take two courses at a community college in hopes of finding her true passion.  Auditioning for "The Amazing Race" in the meantime, and other similar pursuits, is what keeps her from the post-decision guilt and the inevitable "Did I make the right choice?" questions that run through her mind.  I don't envy Kathy right now, but I must say that I can relate to a certain degree of soul searching during this decade in my life.  Will the career decisions that we make now really matter thirty years down the line?  Should we live for the present or sacrifice now in order to "build a future?"  Was leaving a solid job at a time in which unemployment is sky-high the right choice for Kathy?  Seeking the answers to these types of questions is what being a twenty-something is all about.