My younger cousin visited last weekend, and one thing we started talking about was the new year. She just graduated from college last May and hasn’t found a full-time job yet. Her mom (my aunt,) has been on her case about it as any mother would, and its been a huge point of contention. My cousin isn’t dumb, and she isn’t lazy. She just hasn’t found her calling. Being that I’m between the ages of cousin and aunt and therefore can represent both parent and child, I felt the need to step in.

When I was a wandering youth in my early twenties, my mother and I would often fight on what I should do with my life. By the time I was twenty-four, I had changed careers four times. (That’s about twice a year since I graduated at twenty-two.) Each week I had a new idea of what I wanted to do with my life. From her perspective, I seemed to be lost in the sauce.

Thanks to Froot Loops, I found my guiding force in life.

But I didn’t think so. I didn’t have a career yet, nor did I know what I wanted to do long term. I was bouncing from activity to activity. My motto was to follow my nose to wherever it goes. (Thanks Toucan Sam.) I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t have a detailed plan. All I knew was that as long as I did what felt right, I’d find myself in a happy place.

I can’t really tell my mom and aunt “I told you so,” because I didn’t know what to tell them at the time. But the end results are favorable. I have a happy family, happy career, and happy life full of laughter and love. I may never have found my place, had I tried to plan every step of the way. I can look back at all the fortuitous events that had to happen for me to meet my husband, get hired by my employer, and or find the great house that I live in.

I told my cousin what I think all twenty-somethings should know, which is that life is unpredictable and spontaneous. Don’t get caught up with a five year plan or detailed life strategy. Most “responsible adults” with fiver year plans often end up hating the last four of them.

This is something I feel very strongly about. At the risk of coming off as cliche, I must share this Steve Jobs quotes which has been vastly over used since his death. There is no better string of words to express this.

[Y]ou can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life

To all the young people, older people, geriatrics, kids, may you have a wonderfully prosperous 2013 full of joy and spontaneity. Keep following your gut, and you will find your best way. Or as Mr. Jobs would say, “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”