Stumbling in the Dark

How do I find destiny? How do I find a calling? A niche?

When everyone around me seems to have found what they are meant to do in life, I am left stumbling in the dark, trying to find a path of my own. I have dreams, of course. But are they realistic? Realistic enough to pursue? And with that, there are so many lives I want to live. I want to travel, but then I want to settle and have a family. I want to be an archeologist, but then I want to work in a library or a museum. I cannot have both, and yet I must make a choice. But how? We’ve been told all our lives to follow our dreams, but how do we follow them all?
I’m beginning to think it may not be possible. When all is said and done, there will still be a part of us that longs for something we did not pursue. Perhaps it was for the better, but the longing is still present. Will we feel unfulfilled? Or will we feel so satisfied with the choice we did make that the lost one won’t matter?
I hope for the latter.

“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed
Desiring this man’s art, or that man’s scope
With what I most enjoy contented least
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Haply, I think on thee, and then my state
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate
For thy sweet love such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”

Thank you, Shakespeare. Perhaps one day soon I shall find my way in the darkness. But I will need a guiding light. That light is the support, ideas, and love from those whom I hold closest. Probably without knowing it, you all have made a significant impact on my life, and I thank you for it.
I wish you luck. Though I keep a little for myself. Know that I’m going through the same thing, and you’re not alone.
Until next inspiration
The Librarian