The question to ask is “Who are you becoming?”

The PSAT was administered yesterday.  If you aren’t aware, it is the standardized test taken by high school juniors in preparation for the SAT and in hopes of earning scholarships through the National Merit Scholar program.

This was just the latest reminder that our oldest child will be heading off to college in the not-too-distant future.  We are exploring options (where?) and reasons (why?) in selecting both a school and major.  One question that is often asked of children and teens is “What do you want to do?”

The truth today is that most young people will have multiple careers over the course of their adult lives.  I’m on my 4th or 5th career, depending upon how one counts (professional student, minister, college professor, educational entrepreneur, and consultant).

This multiple-career reality can remind us that life isn’t primarily about what you do, but who you are becoming and how that becoming is reflected in your current “what I do.”

Similarly, the question “What do you want to do?” may suggest that real life awaits somewhere in the future; that you are making decisions today that will be of consequence once you really start to live.

I always bristle when people suggest that children and teens are preparing for life as though they aren’t living now.  Children and teens are people – not yet fully mature (but who is?) – who are living real lives of consequence in the present.

So at every stage of life I prefer to ask: “Who are you becoming?”

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