To me, it seems like twentysomethings have this huge to do list: get an education, get a good job, get married, buy car, buy house, get pet, have babies... and it's all "supposed" to be done in the ten years you have before you are thirty.
First of all, where are we getting the MONEY to do all these things??? Out of my list above, only one of them doesn't take significant amounts of cash.
So far my order of these things has been education, pet, car. Inevitably when I think about these things I ended up asking myself, "what's the rush?". Well, honestly in my case it feels as though there is an order to things that can't be ignored. It's starts like this: if I want my parents to be around for their grandkids I should start having kids by the time I'm 30 (7 years and counting). If I want kids by the time I'm 30 I need a job and probably should have worked for a few years first (5 years). If I want a job I have to be done vet school in 5 years... which means I need to start... NEXT year. Ugh. Ergo pressure.
However, the last paragraphs has a heck of a lot of SHOULDS in it. Something that I have learned is not a healthy way to live your life (thx Sarah). So then, what is a good way to think about it? How about from the "do what makes you happy" perspective? Ok, then what do I want right now? How do I want to live my days? Well, I want to get married. And I want to be working towards a career that is fulfilling in what I'm doing but also flexible so that I can have a family and be there with them. The irony of becoming a vet is it is so extreme to the "invest now, reap rewards later" that sometimes the risk doesn't feel worth it. How tempting is it for me to just graduate, find any job and start my marriage NOW? Very. (Which brings us back to the question, what's the rush?)
Ok, so I've semi reasoned my way into trying to get into vet school for at least two years and if I fail, re-evaluating then. Fine. But now, add third layer of dimension. The boyfriend, hereafter known as Bubs. Bubs is 27, has finished a chem masters degree and has now decided to go back to do an engineering degree because his is worth dick-all. Great! Lovely! I fully support you dear, emotionally that is. But where oh where, are we getting funds to pay for two professional degrees, housing and (pretty please) a wedding? I just don't understand how society sets us up for failure like this. Bubs and I both come from pretty financially solid backgrounds. What do all the other families do? Is it normal that my mother should be supporting me until I'm 30? These types of questions just baffled and demoralize. It really does seem like a rite of passage to adulthood: you must do these tasks and you must do it while eating crappy food and living in small cramped quarters, you will get 25 cents to live on, and you will have no time to spend on frivolous things like exercise!
At present, I'm just clinging to the belief, it will all work out in the end. Which it will I suppose. But big picture stuff is just so daunting. Which is why at the end of the day I shrink up my view, and I take it one day at a time; try to get the best marks I can and save as much money as I can (which really should be enough incentive to pack a lunch!). Man oh man. I guess that's it for now, I really don't have any conclusions... I'll let you know when I'm thirty how much of my lofty to do list I actually can accomplish. But people do, people do .
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