Going Down Your Own Path
Like all 20 something graduates I've had to endure the conversation of 'so where are you headed?' and all the other questions that go along with it. I've found my twenties to be a pretty scary time in my life as I used to believe I had absolutely everything figured out. I was one of those girls who had their 10 year plan, graduated and in the career I wanted by 23, engaged by 25 married by 27 and kids by 30 and so on. From a young age we're all asked so what do you want to be? I've had that many career choices go through my mind like vet, fashion writer, stylist and personal assistant that it's no shock that we feel pressured to be on a certain path.
For years I thought I had to be at a certain point by the time I was in my twenties and if I wasn't at that point then I was obviously failing. A huge learning curve that I went through last year was that you can't plan for everything, I got diagnosed with a chronic digestive disease last year and it completely knocked me off my feet for the best part of a year. During those few months I quickly learnt that the life I thought I was going to have wasn't going to be for me anymore and it took me a while to accept that. I thought I had to move out of home as soon as possible because I was a graduate and if I wanted work in my chosen field and move to London.
I felt like this is what everybody expected me to do and because I wasn't doing that then I was failing. In general people do live with their parents for longer nowadays, especially if they've been to university and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I've gone from feeling ashamed of living at home to being completely happy with where I am because I know it is the best place for me right now. Going down the route of self employment isn't something I had ever thought I would be doing at this age, I'm incredibly happy with my career choice but this doesn't mean I still have everything in my life completely figured out. If you had told me this during my third year of university I would have completely freaked out, it is truly amazing how things change.
The path I'm going down in life is my choice and ultimately the only person I have to keep happy is myself. There is no point trying in trying to portray a certain image of myself to live up to other peoples expectations. It's completely ok to be in your twenties or even your fourties and not have everything figured out and it is ok to graduate and feel even more lost than you did before you started your degree. Just because you're not on the path as everybody else doesn't mean you're doing something wrong or failing, we're not all the same and that is great. The amount of time I've spent worrying about not doing what everybody else is doing could probably amount to days and it got me no where. The day that I stopped worrying about what other people were doing and truly focused what I was doing was life changing as cheesy as it sounds.
Be sure to check out Hyacinth Girl, Sunny Sweet Pea and The Shallow Void, you can advertise with me here.
