Married at 26, first child at 28, and second at age 30. That was a rough blueprint of the life I envisioned for myself. I'd also be living in New York and regularly writing for GQ magazine. Now,a month before my 26th birthday,none of those things are coming into fruition. And I couldn't be happier.
I guess you could call me a late bloomer. It has taken me 8 years, countless changes to my major,and tons of classes for me to realize what I want to do with my life,(sorry mom and dad!) We live in a culture that preaches that you have to have everything, career, relationships,and yourself, figured out in your twenties. But we don't stop growing once age 30 hits. What kind of boring life would that be, if we discovered all the answers in our twenties? There is no one-size-fits-all plan for how to live your life. The worst part of trying to conform to some sort of life plan is the shame factor that goes along with deviating from the so-called plan.
This was probably the hardest part for me, being a habitual people pleaser. There was no real defining moment when I realized I was wasting precious time living and planning my life in accordance to others, but for the past year or so I've been happier than ever before, mainly because I am now living my life to its fullest: plan-free. I'm confident I'll be married and have children one day,who knows, you may even see my name in GQ,but I have no time table for my life anymore,and I couldn't be happier about it.
