One of the best pieces of advice my best friend ever gave me was simple. Standing by my side as I spent painful weeks contemplating putting an end to my longest relationship, she dumbed it down to one phrase: Nothing in life is permanent. I, of course, had heard this countless times before. That moment, however, was the first time I had actually taken it in and let it seep to my core.

A year later, I had a professor who told us that once we were done our internships, we would know whether we wanted to be in television, radio, or print. Or, we might realize we don’t even want to be a journalist, and “that’s okay too.” It is a rarity now-a-days to find people like this. People, who push everything complicated aside and remind us that it is OK to change our mind.

Why do we stay so long in a state of unhappiness when all we have to do is commit to change?

Society today is endlessly bound by contracts, leases, relationships and a jaded concept of time. I know too many people who spend too long unhappy with their partners, or commit to careers that they hate simply because they have “invested” so much of their life in it. The idea of starting from the beginning again is indefinitely paralyzing to a lot of people.

I believe this all starts with one loaded question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For me, it was around grade seven. I was told that my choices then would affect the rest of my life. Start thinking about what classes you want to take in highschool, I was told, because this would help map the rest of your career. This is when I began being brainwashed into the idea that every decision made was permanent. When I reached a fork in the road, I had to chose route A or B, with no turning back. Rules, are rules. I was constantly being asked where I want to be in the next 5-10 years, as if I wasn’t allowed to change my mind. In fact, the first time anyone ever told me that “I don’t know” was an OK answer was when I was around 20 years old.

This concept of life mapping is drilled into our brains from such a young age that many end up miserable. But, after spending tens of thousands of dollars on education and years of training, we better stick to our game plan. Or, in relationships, once family members have been introduced, “I love you”s have been exchanged, and apartment keys have been swapped , we somehow subconsciously believe we are invested for life with no turning back. This is where the chilling fear of going back to the drawing board begins. But, are we happy?

Once the fog clears, it all comes down to that simple question. Instead of being paralyzed by the thought of how much time we’ve wasted doing something that we don’t want or like, we should be thinking about how many amazing moments we have left to make sure that we spend every single second of them happy. We can do anything we want, and change our minds as many times as we need. Only plants have roots. Which brings me to end on one of my favourite quotes:

If you don’t like how things are, change it! You are not a tree. -Jim Rohn