‘I’m going to travel the world’ I said.  

‘But why don’t you just get a boyfriend and settle?’ they said.

THERE. RIGHT THERE, is what is wrong with today's world.

We are told that life should follow a certain pattern. Go to school, college, university. Get a job, meet a nice boy/girlfriend, marry them, get a better job, have children, save all your money, retire. Keep saving all your money. Die.

But why? Why do we conform to this? Have you ever thought about not doing life that way? Maybe juggling it up a bit, maybe doing things in a different order, or maybe, just maybe, doing what the hell you want to do?

And, have you ever thought that if you did life on your own terms things would still turn out ok? That you can still be successful without a ‘good job’ and you can still have a relationship without getting married?

We let technology move forward, we welcome change in government, in travel, we encourage advances in education and business. But we still stay true to those guidelines in life that have been passed down from generation to generation without even questioning them.

But FUCK society, FUCK how everyone else feels you should lead your life. Let's welcome a new way of thinking. A way that lets you be who you want to be and do what you want to do. 

** Que rolling of eyes and thoughts of "was it necessary to say FUCK?" This girl sounds completely reckless, what awful advice**

Go into things without looking, make decisions without thinking (oh how reckless) and fall in love too many times. Buy a plane ticket, get lost, argue, disagree, be embarrassed, make mistakes.

Do everything you are told not to do. DO YOU.

I’m doing me. 

I quit my well-paying job ( spectators comment: But you could have done really well there, you could have become a manager)

I sold my house and got rid of my mortgage (spectators comment: But it is so hard to get on the property ladder now, why did you throw that away, you could have made so much money)

I dumped ‘great’ guys (spectators comments: But he was such a nice guy, you might not meet someone like him again)

I spent all my money (spectators comment: But what if you need money for an emergency? What will you do)

I travelled the world (spectators comment: But when are you coming ‘home’ when are you going to settle down)

And do you know what happened when I went against what society wanted for me?

Through quitting my well-paying job I realised what it was I really wanted to do in my career and pursued that. I now have the best job in the world. For me. My dream job. Not anyone else's.

I realised I only bought a house because that was what I was supposed to do. The money I made from the sale I still have invested and the money I spent sent me around the world.

I met ‘someone like him’ again. In fact, I met more than one of ‘someone like him’ and it turns out that ‘someone like him’ wasn’t all that great anyway. I also learnt to love myself before any man.

I now realise the most important things to possess are memories and not things. I spent my money on the best book anyone could own, a book full of stories, adventures, laughter and love. Every single penny spent was worth more than anything I could have physically bought.

I have seen things I didn't know existed, been to countries I wouldn’t have even been able to  pronounce, felt the ultimate happiness and have never looked back. I travelled the world, and I still am.

Now why am I telling you this? Surely I am just showing off?

Really, that is not why I wrote this. I wrote this because I meet hundreds of people every year who say they wish they could do what I do.

And it confuses me.

You see I wasn't given a pot of gold, won the lottery or born into a trust fund. I found a way to live my dreams. BECAUSE IT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. Maybe you want to do something else? But I meet people that tell me they can't do what they want, because they bought a house, got married too early or made commitments that meant they had to settle for the life they fell into. From society's influence.

And by no means am I judging the life they created for themselves. But they tell me it is not the life they want.

So I am writing this to show you that you don't have to have lots of money, be 'well educated' or be born into the right family. If you really have a passion for something and you want to go out and get it, there should be nothing stopping you. Stop listening to what others want from you and listen to what YOU want for YOU.

Two fingers up to society, we are a generation of go-getters, of entrepreneurs, we don't need guidelines to follow anymore, we are individual and secure in our own skin. We will go out there and get what we want, in whatever order we want and we will always choose happiness over someone else's guidelines...

FUCK (she said it again) society. You are so 2015!