Growing up, we’re taught that we can be anything we want to be. We’re given careers like doctors, police officers, firefighters, anything of the basic norm that society wants you to follow. But it seems like if you travel outside that given box, you’re looked at in a different light. 

As we go through school and develop our own opinions and experiences, our thoughts on what we want to do in our lives likely start to change. It’s expected of us to know what we want the rest of our lives to look like at just the ripe age of 16. You have adults and counselors asking “what are you going into college for?” And if you say you don’t know, or you aren’t going to college, they give you that certain look. And if you’ve ever experienced it, you know what I’m talking about. It’s not quite disappointment, but it’s the judgement, as if they were never 16 or 17 and lost as to what they wanted to do.

Society gives us this construct of where we’re supposed to be in life, and when. The expectancy of being married in your 20’s, kids in your 30’s, having this much money saved up by this age, it causes unnecessary stress on people who most of the time are still so young. This happens frequently, where there’s unrealistic standards showcased to young audiences and coined the “norm” because it’s satisfactory to others who are perceiving your life. 

The point of my argument is this: if you feel like you’re behind in life because others seem “ahead”, don’t rush yourself for the temporary satisfaction of being in what society may perceive as the right spot. There is no “right” spot. Wherever you are is where you’re meant to be, and learning to live for yourself rather than stress on your future will always be significantly more beneficial in the long run.