In this day and age, where we live, certain things are expected of us from society. Society has a blue print for our lives that we are expected to follow almost precisely, whether we like it or not. In fact, we are brainwashed into thinking "I must go exactly according to the blueprint, if not then I’m not normal, the blueprint is the best type of life to live."
This blueprint goes like this:
Get born, complete primary education, complete secondary education, possibly complete further education, get a 9-5 job, get married, take out a mortgage and buy a house, have kids, pay off the house, retire, die.
In our society, this is the basic plan that 95% of people follow. Think about the people around you, your parents even, have they followed the plan? Most humans believe that this is the normal and right way to live. And parts of it are good, for example education is something almost all kids should go through, at least until the tail side of high school. School is a social preparation ground. University is a waste of the best years of your life unless you truly WANT what it can offer.
That said, unless you find "the blue print" attractive (and some people truly do), do not feel that you have to abide by it, even if everyone important in your life says you do (and they probably will). We have been given life for whatever reason, and our sole purpose should not be to buy a house and car with a $1,500 steering wheel warmer in a repetitive and rutted society, but we should be doing whatever we want with our lives, we should be exploring the earth, ourselves, and other people. Doesn’t the idea of going to the train station or airport with your lover and just deciding to run away together with no specific destination seem exciting? What a waste it is to spend your whole life working a 9-5 job, coming home and watching some crappy poorly written TV show, then sleeping, then repeating the process everyday, when you could be exploring life to its fullest. Sure, some people are content with this life; it is a safe life because it has routine and the margin for trouble or problems is low. But when I’m 21 I don’t want to be sitting in a small stuffy room straining my brain to remember test answers so that I can complete my PHD degree in physics. I want to be backpacking through Europe! I want to be sleeping on the beach beside my lover on a hot humid night in gorgeous Jamaica! I want to bet everything I own with a random in a pub on tickets for a cruise ship that’s going around the world, like in a certain movie I know! I want to thumb my way to Vegas! I want to take a crappy labor job in Montreal where ill meet more new people, just to build up enough money for a train ticket to the next city or the next country. I want to buy a van and go on month long road trips with my mates straight through America or Australia, visiting, living and exploring each city we go through. I want my life to be a fast paced, unplanned adventure. And when I’m in an old folk’s home in 60 years time, and I’m crippled and blind and sterile I’ll look back on my life and I’ll smile. I’ll feel more then content with the memories.
We don’t live long so make the most of it, and remember, the best things in life truly are free!
