“There’s no right or wrong way to experience life.”
I’m one of those people who have always known what I wanted to do with my life.
I finished high school with a set idea in my mind of what I wanted my career to look like. I went to university to start – and finish – a degree that I loved. Then I got my dream job and started my career.
But I’m in the minority.
I’m the only one of my siblings or school friends who did that. Many had gap years or switched degrees, travelled, or just haven’t decided what they want to do with their lives yet. And that’s completely fine. But the way I did it, is fine too.
All throughout life we’re told by people who did things differently, that our way of living is wrong.
Whether it’s because we spent our teenage years in a long-term relationship that we were sure would result in marriage (it didn’t). Whether we are 23 and unsure of our long-term goals and want to just experience everything life has to offer first. Or whether we decide to work our arses off and land a great job before our 21st birthday.
I read an article recently that told 20-something women to basically chill the fuck out. Don’t worry about relationships, it said. Don’t stress about your careers. You’re in your twenties! The prime of your life! Worrying can wait until your thirties.
I’m calling bullshit on that.
I decided early on that I didn’t want to spend a year working some low-paying waitressing job and travelling the world. I knew that was never going to make me happy. I was so eager to get into the workforce that I packed up my life and moved states before even finishing my degree. For me, this worked.
But there’s always that terrifying moment when I introduce myself to someone and they ask my age. I know when I say how old I really am, I’ll be looked at with absolute shock and surprise. ‘But you’re so young,’ they always say, sounding slightly disgusted as if I’ve just told them I’m an anti-vaxxer.
Yes, I’m young. But that doesn’t mean I can’t know what I want out of life.
I may not be an epic world traveller (yet), but that doesn’t mean I don’t have valuable experiences. I may have spent the ‘partying’ years of my life in a serious relationship, but that doesn’t mean it was the wrong thing for me to do.
Any decision I make in life will be the right one for me because it’s up to me – and only me – to determine how I live my life.
And if you’re the opposite of me; if you’re in your twenties with three half-finished degrees under your belt and the mounting pressure of ‘the unknown future’ dragging you down, don’t stop worrying about your big life decisions that can apparently wait until your thirties. Or do stop. It’s completely up to you.
There is no right or wrong way to experience life.
There’s just your way, and any mistakes or screw ups that come along as part of that is fine, too.
For more life advice…
Hey Gen X, stop telling Gen Y we are precocious arseholes. Thanks.
Top Comments
Yes!!! Thank you so much for sharing - I have the same problem with meeting people, who ask how old I am with disbelief already in their tone because they can just see that I'm younger than who they have 'expected'. Awesome to be reminded that there are others out there who face the same frustrations and still keep pushing forward with what makes them happy! :)
I went straight into study from high school. Didn't go to nightclubs until I was 19. Started my first serious relationship at that time. Worked various jobs. Got married at 24. Got divorced a year later. Spent a year drinking and dating. I've never traveled overseas. Now I'm 27 with an amazing boyfriend and looking forward to going back to full time study. I have a clearer idea of where I'm headed now. I made some bad choices throughout my early 20s but I try not to regret any of them. I just didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be.