The Equation for Life

The lives of my classmates are predictable and have been predictable from the start. It's not their fault that their lives are so utterly boring that they must watch shows like The Hills and Degrassi with over exaggerated drama just to get a taste of what something abnormal would be like. Unfortunately those shows aren't exactly unpredictable either, so really they are just shows about a bunch of boring predictable people that other boring predictable people watch.

So where does all this predictability come from. Well it starts at an early age. A baby is born into a picture perfect family with the pictures to prove it. Their dad is a hard working business man and their mom is a PTA/ soccer mom who mostly stays at home or goes to book club. When the baby gets older the parents encourage it to play some sort of sport. If they happen to be a little girl they're more likely to do dancing.

As they get older the kid will be expected to get good, but not perfect grades in school. They will be expected to spend time with their friends and play all the newest coolest video games. They'll continue to partake in various hobbies and activities, perhaps playing more sports or learning an instrument. As they reach middle school they will be strongly encouraged to do well in all their activities and schoolwork. They'll where Abercrombie and Hollister and drink Starbucks regardless of how their taste buds feel about it.

High School will be more or less the same. They'll be very involved in their activities now. There will be lots of after school clubs and meetings. They will be expected to be smart and beautiful and talented. They'll also have a nice car. Probably not brand new but only a couple of years old, with leather seats and good air conditioning. They'll talk about getting out of their stupid town and going to their dream college.

Then they'll go to college at the end of high school. They'll have fun and make friends. They'll show up to class in sweats unless they're trying to impress someone. They'll live off Ramen and pizza. It will be fun and then they'll graduate.

They'll get a good job and work a couple of years. Soon they'll meet the love of their life and get married. They'll honeymoon in Hawaii or Cancun. Then they'll buy a sweet little house in the suburbs and the story will start over.

This is their equation. Parents and teachers feed it to us like we have no other choice. This- they say- is the idea of a perfect life. This- they say- is what you need to do if you want to be happy. Be unique. Live your life how you want to live it.....but follow this general idea.

Well so what! I'm a senior in high school and I don't know what college I want to go to yet. Does that really make me that big of a screw up? Will it really hurt me to spend more time thinking about what I really want to do? Can it be that bad trying to figure out the option that will make me happy?

I can't live by their formula because life isn't predictable. I don't know what college I want to go to because I haven't figured out what I really love doing. I couldn't have predicted that I wouldn't have figured it out yet. And after I go to whatever college I wind up going to I might not get a job. It was hard enough for me to get a job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant now, I can't imagine how hard it will be for me to get a real job. My life isn't predictable. I don't know where I'll be a year from now. I don't even know where I'll be next week.

Maybe the equation works for my classmates. After all they've fit right into it their whole lives. But for me it wont work. Not unless I just settle on some options that wont make me happy just so I can be on the same page as the rest of them. It's not like I can't pull up a page of colleges right now, look at the list and say that I'm going to one of them. I could do that in a second. Right now though I need to figure out what I want to do with my life. If that puts me off track then that's just too bad.

I wont say that I'll only do what makes me happy because that's an unrealistic belief. Instead I'll say that I'll always work for what makes me happy. To me that's what's important.