We all want to be something in this life. We also want to experiences the best things life has to offer. We understand that growing up means more responsibilities. We know life isn’t meant to be easy and have to work for what we want to get out of it. But are we living? Do you wake up each day with a smile knowing you are where you want to be in life? I understand if you don’t. A lot of people are not smiling when they wake up. Why? You do what you do because you love it, but the machine of today’s culture and society likes to veer us away from our true self inhibitions.

I read an article about “living your life” and I found it quite inspiring. Everyday, we wake up and do our same routine like the day before. We have become programmed to do specific tasks because “someone told us we should”. I went to college for 4 and a half years because I was told that it was the only way that I would find a good job so I can make good money to raise a family in the future.

Is that the way you were explained it?

If so, you are not alone. I believe the majority of our generation has been told that same concept once in their lives. But why is it that when we are given that ideal of how life should be, we seem to fall into a pit with everyone else in the exact same struggles we face everyday? We were given the secret formula on how to do life and are in the same spot as millions of people around us.

So is it true that this secret way of life isn’t working? Are we being told this because our parents were told this? Don’t get me wrong, there needs to be a motive to the life you live and you have to have guidance along the way whether it be parents or mentors. But this formula of going to college, getting that degree, slaving to find a job, and then trying to start a family, seems to me that it was a predestined nurtured thought.

Why is that? Why do we feel like if we don’t follow that course, we will become failures at life? It’s funny seeing yourself go through life knowing that there has to be an end goal but in reality you are not doing what it is you love. Our parents seem to just assume that we want to go to college, get a degree, and start a family, and they are not wrong for doing so per se. But growing up, we want to make are parents proud and do what they expect of us - because obviously right? This creates a weird disconnect in my opinion. If you are trying to make your parents proud of you by doing life the way they see it, how are you focusing in on what it is you really want to accomplish?

SO MANY QUESTIONS AND THINKING I KNOW. I want you to think.

The article mentions that you are who you are and you know what it is you love. Are you doing what you love or are you hoping that maybe it will fall in your lap while you work that 9-to-5? Most the time we aren’t. Most the time we stare at our hobbies everyday but like to think we can’t be self sufficient from them. But look at who you idolize each and every day on your smartphone - it was a hobby first.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I am 23 and at the point of life where student loans are actually a real thing and bills are no joke. I went to college and got a degree because I was told that was a smart idea because I needed a good job in the future. I am currently still trying to figure out what the hell it is that I want to do with my life but I think it is right in front of me. I (and you) just need to focus and commit to it. Don’t be complacent.

The article’s point was to say we are not living our lives because of this artificial idea of what life should look like. For the people in my shoes that are staring student loans in the face every month, and the ones who are brand new into their 9-5s, and still seeking to get more out of life, keep doing you but never outweigh the idea that there is something else out there. It may not be what you are doing right now unless you love what you are doing. The point is, if you love the direction you are heading in life, perfect. If you love being a garbage man, fantastic. No need to change anything about what you are doing. If you wake up and hate your life, maybe some things need to change. It’s up to you.

Keep your mind focused on who you are and do the things you want because at the end of the day, “life is crazy” - James Simmons.