When did life become a race? It seems as though I missed the memo that I am supposed to be like my peers and running around under a self imposed deadline to accomplish 'goals'. Mainstream media tries to tell us that 40 is the new 30. At the same time I look around and see people treating 30 as the new 50. Some are striving to be older than advertised in the hopes of using their false maturity as leverage to advance their agenda of being perceived as 'older and more stable' for both personal and professional purposes.
I am viewed as a 'failure' by a lot of people (both friends and family). They won't come right out and say it but this is how I am viewed. I'm viewed as such because I didn't buy into their notion that I'm supposed to have a two car garage by now with a matching family and a Weber grill that will make me the envy of the neighborhood. I have next to nothing set aside for retirement because i opted to quit a shitty job 10 years ago and go back to school in order to better myself. I did not pursue a field of study that would have easily enabled this mythical dream world to happen. I chose to study what interested me which lead to my growing mentally and emotionally as a human being as opposed to a more acceptable worker drone.
Now I'm looked down upon because I'm 'behind the curve' in terms of accumulation of the 'goals' that my peers are racing towards. My maturity is quietly questioned by those that know me socially. My stability is questioned by both prospective employers and casual acquaintances. I'm chasing a different dream than what others are chasing and for that I am an oddity. You're more than welcome to look down upon me now but please don't call me when you're suffering from a midlife crisis after you realize you have attained all of these milestones that you raced towards and realized that you're stressed about keeping up the charade.
There must be something wrong with this individual who dared to quit their job when buying a new car was within his grasp. There's clearly something wrong with someone who walked away from a job with benefits all to risk being penniless.
Them: What would your ideal job be right now if you could do anything?
Me: A gardener.
Them: Ahh… Agriculture.
Me: No. Just a gardener.
Them: That's it?
Me: Yes.
Clearly there's something wrong with this one. We should be sure to distance ourselves from him for fear of the unknown that he brings.
I think the reason why I'm refusing to run this race that I see others caught up in is because the finish line should not be the ultimate goal. The journey is more important to me than the destination. It's the experiences in this journey that make us who we are and give us the knowledge to pass on to the next generation with the hopes of not repeating our mistakes. Age comes in time. I'll get there when I get there. In the meantime there's absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying where you are chronologically. I accept my branding as a 'failure' by those that don't understand this because i sleep soundly every night perfectly content with who i am.
See ya at the finish line...
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