Are You Living? | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

Are You Living?

I don't think you are and here's why

29
Are You Living?
Unsplash

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.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

2622
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

301793
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments