Tuesday, 10 May 2011

• Becoming a Pilot: Finding God's Plan For My Life

  For a larger part of my adult life I wandered around aimlessly wondering what I was going to do with my life. I started college literally the following Monday after I walked across the stage and graduated with my high school diploma. It just happened so fast that I didn't know what to make of it. I was ready to get done with school so I made it as quickly as I could.
  
  Well, seeing as how I was atheist and completely turned off of religion at the time, I was too blind and arrogant to seek out God for guidance. I instead continued on what turned out to be the completely wrong track for my life, wasting three years of my time in undergrad (yes, I graduated from college in 3 years), then a year and a half after that especially feeling lost. I took a job teaching Algebra 2 and Calculus AB and BC at a private high school in the same town as my university, but if I were to be completely honest I was never 100% happy, so I went to graduate school. In grad school, I was even more miserable, almost to the point of life being unbearable. I left after 9 months because I couldn't handle it.
  
  After grad school I finally decided that I would become an airline pilot (and, as a result, chasing my childhood dream; I'd wanted to be an airline pilot since I was about 6 years old) regardless of what it took. In my case, as I found out, it would require leaving my country of birth (since the US has the strictest medical requirements for airline pilots and I'd never be able to pass them), setting foot in a whole new place, and saying goodbye to my mother and two younger sisters.
  
  However, I will say at long last, I've found my happiness and my niche. I truly believe it was God's plan for my life to become an airline pilot. I love flying so much. Yes, the job is stressful, yes I'll be working long hours, be dealing with jetlag, being away from home more days than not per month, and dealing with just terrible pay that first year. However, this is where I belong, and it took me until I was almost 24 to find that.
  
  I think this just goes to show that God does have a plan for our lives, and we just need to find it. Sometimes, it takes us a long time to discover that plan and carry it out. However, I do have this to say: once you find it, you'll know. You'll just know. It'll "feel right" so to speak, in much the same way my new career feels right to me. This is where I belong. Further, I believe finding God's plan for our lives means being in tune with the spirit and listening to your inner desires. I believe God plants within us certain desires that fit into his plan for our lives (in my case, being inspired to be an airline pilot on my first passenger flight at age 6).
  
  However, I do believe God gives us free will as well, and he won't force us into his plan if you resist. I think this is why so many people hate their jobs and say if they had to do it over again they'd do something else. Well, for those of you in that boat, I say it's never too late to make a change.
  
  I don't yet know of the entirety of God's plan yet. I do know that I'm called to be an airline pilot. I know that I was called to be child-free (me being a parent would not go over well, especially given my career calling). I don't know yet if marriage is in my future, I'm still waiting and seeking that out. However, if it's meant to be, I think I'll know when that happens. I'm not stressing things too much, and am learning each day how to trust God more and seek his will and guidance. I know I'm a happier person when I do.
  
  Is the author's story of searching and finding inspiring to you? How do you think we can come to know God's will for our lives, if at all? Where do free will and predestination come in?
  

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