The undying pressure of being "successful"

Hi there Steemers!

You know that constant pressure to be someone or do something big with your life? To be successful at a young age and well off? Well, if not all I can definitely assume a lot of you can relate. The push to be bigger, better and do more than those around you. To be the best. The smartest. Fastest. Whatever it is, our parents, guardians and loved ones are always pushing us to do more. Don't get me wrong, this is not always a bad thing. Everyone needs guidance and some help to believe in their selves and work to their fullest potential.

What I am talking about is this dragon breathing down your back pressuring you to know what you are going to do with your life....and the judgement when you don't choose something that is acceptable to others.

This is something I have been struggling with recently. Going to college my family wanted me to be a Doctor or a Lawyer, something that would land me the big bucks. As i continued my education I learned that I really didn't care about the money. Sure I know that I need to make enough to survive, but I care more about the little things in life. Love, compassion, helping others, equity. I ended up graduating with a bachelors in Gender, Women & Sexuality studies.

Oh man, the faces on people when I would tell them my major was priceless. I would then have to go on explaining what the degree actually entails and proceed to defend myself as to why I chose this.
It was really discouraging to always feel like you weren't doing the "right thing" or what others wanted you to do. I always thought to myself business majors don't have to sit here and explain why they want to major in business, they are typically praised and it is left at that.

I learned that doing what I love and what makes me happy is more important than anything. I am okay with not making a lot of money because that does not represent my value of life. There is so many ways one can be "successful" other than the typical capitalistic view of success.
It frustrates me where our values lay in this world.

AND THEN. Don't get me started on the big question... "So what now?"
I DON'T KNOW. I really don't. I thought I did, but the more I think about it I feel so at loss with what career I can even envision myself on. We are expected to decide our life paths at such a young age. I remember stumbling upon this quote of some sort that said something along the lines of we are expected to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives at 18, but yet we are still not trusted to drink until we are 21 (in America at least).

Life takes us down twist and turns and places us on paths that we couldn't of even imagined. I am naturally a very organized person who likes to plan everything. When my life was going off my ideal plan I would begin to freak out and get really bad anxiety and be really hard on myself. Until I realized that some of the best things happen unplanned. I began to let myself go and just live my life. Go with the flow. Everything will work out in the end. I am still young, it is okay for me to not know what I want to do with my life. Hell, I talk to people in their 40's and they still say they don't know what they are doing with theirs.

This societal pressure to have everything figured out is rather exhausting.
I've realized I have just got to do what I want and not worry about others thoughts or opinions on what I am doing with MY life.

We all have different paths and routes, none will look the same. Some people take longer than others. And thats okay because that is life.
We just need to live.

xox.