Editor's Note: "What Am I Doing With My Life?" is part of Kristy Plaza's series, Kristy's Corner.

I open Facebook and see a post from my best friend Jasmine: “I don't know what I'm doing with my lifeeeeeeee.” How do I even respond to this?

I didn’t know what to say in order to comfort her. So instead of giving a half-assed attempt at empathy, I chose to give this comment some thought. I pondered about how this was a woman with a goal to achieve success in both Feminism and the gaming sphere as well as the will to overcome any obstacle. How was it possible she could be feeling this way?

Then I thought about my “sister” (best friend that I feel is my sister) Angelica, who wants to help others better their health by entering the professional nutrition field. I thought about the fact that she felt like she didn’t belong on her campus at UC Davis and was having trouble motivating herself to continue doing her work. I remembered talking to her for hours on the phone, as she vented her frustration with not feeling as if she was accomplishing anything.

How can these two amazing individuals feel so lost within their own lives? I couldn’t answer that question. It made my mind ache and my heart crack, knowing that they were questioning their very existence. Rather than dwell on those negative feelings, I decided to distract my mind, hoping that the break would help me reach an epiphany. I thought watching a movie would do the trick.

I got myself comfortable on my bed, set up my Mac, and began to watch Moulin Rouge. I was in the mood for a musical and I thought the film’s vibrantly colors would distract me. However, my prediction was severely wrong. Ironically enough, it was the movie that gave me the epiphany I needed. Here’s a quick summary: Satine, a courtesan, has to sacrifice her body and leave her lover, Christian, so that the Duke won’t kill him. In order to keep her lover safe and alive, she is willing to give up her freedom. When Satine is getting ready to leave Christian, she sings the song "The Show Must Go On," a cover of Queen’s original

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This song starts with the words, “On and on. Does anybody know what we are living for?” It’s a legitimate question: what are we living for? Many seem to ask this of themselves at one point or another, for whatever reason. Regardless of social, political or financial status; gender; role in society; time period; etc., this is a question that we all ask ourselves. Why? How is it possible that individuals like Jasmine and Angelica can ask this at the same time as Satine?

It could be that people aren’t satisfied with their lives. This can mean a number of things: you are bored by daily life (the routine of it), you feel as if you have no motivation or have accomplished nothing of importance (especially when you compare yourself to others), you don’t know where you are going, etc. Whether it is for one of these reasons, a few of them, all of them or some other personal reason, we have all been in this dilemma.

Once you get frustrated with this dilemma, where does that leave you? Well, there are two options: wallow in the frustration or do something about it! I think the latter is the better option—that is, if you want to move forward.

As cliché and obvious as this may sound, we are living every day. Each day brings something new to our lives that we didn’t have before. It could be a quiet revelation, a new perspective, conviction in our actions, a plan, a decision for a question/opportunity, etc. It could be bigger: a new friend, a trip to another country, an internship/employment, graduation, feeding the hungry, being an ambassador for an organization/country, winning an office/competition, etc.

With nearly 7 billion people on Earth, there is constant living being done. But it is up to us to decide what type of living is best for ourselves. We can’t compare our lives to another’s because we don’t live the same lives. We may come from the same place or have the same financial situation or the same education or the same dream (there are numerous ways in which one’s life may be similar to another’s) but we don’t have the exact same lives. More than our status or situation, we get up every morning to achieve our own accomplishments and follow the path we have chosen for ourselves. Therefore, it is pointless to compare what we do to what someone else does. I don’t recall deciding to live for my friends or family or colleagues; I live for myself because I am the one making the choices that will define my life and influence the lives of others.

I talked with Jasmine and explained it to her. More importantly, I explained how this was my definition and she may listen to me but ultimately, she had to find her own definition. We all have to decide for ourselves why we have chosen the paths we walk or made the decisions we’ve made; we must have conviction in our actions. Only with this, can we justify our very lives to ourselves, even if we do get lost occasionally. Succeeding in life is about achieving happiness, whatever that may mean to you.

Reach Contributor Kristy Plaza here.