The Plan of Happiness

I had this plan set out for the next 10 years of my life:

Go to college with a major in Teaching English as a second language with a minor in Chinese

Graduate in three years

Serve a mission

Get married

Teach English in China

Return home to have a family

Not a bad plan, huh? I thought it was great. Well, then I tried to check the first thing off the list. (It's never a good sign if the first thing doesn't go right.) I signed up for Chinese 301 and to sum up how that turned out, it kicked my butt. (That's a story for another day.) At the same time that was happening, I got the opportunity to become a vocal major. The part I struggled with was that there was a performing class at the exact same time as my Chinese class. So what do I choose? It has always been a choice between Chinese and music. My two favorite things! I was really struggling with this. Well after putting a lot of thought and prayer into it and talking to my family (that always helps), I decided to hold off on the Chinese. I felt good about it and was put into the performing class. This was an audition-only class with just 16 people in it, so I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity. Chinese can wait.
The next day it hit me.
For four years I have had this plan. I never ever intended on dropping Chinese. But that class would have required so much from me, I probably wouldn't have passed it. I was supposed to stick to the plan and keep the Chinese. But the music made me so happy. After a long talk with Dallin, he taught me it was okay through a simple concept. The Plan of Happiness, as he loves to refer to it.
We have been given this plan so that we can be happy. Not just after death, but also on Earth. We have all been given talents so that we can fulfill the Plan of Happiness. My talent, in this case, being music. It runs through my blood. In order for me to be happy, I have to go off my silly plan that I made in high school and remember why I was given the talent of singing. It's not worth it in the end to kill myself over a degree and end up stressed beyond belief without exercising the talent that makes me most happy.
Dallin is so wise :)
So now, I am a vocal performance major and I will also get my teaching degree. I am not giving up on Chinese in any way at all, just simply putting it on hold until the time is right. Everything happens for a reason.