There Is No Right Way To Live Your 20s, But There Is A Wrong Way

God & Man

“So are you going to get a real job when you move?”

“Um, I have a real job now?”

“Oh… you do?”

“Yeah, I write.”

“Oh…”

…………….

For some reason, we still live in a society where people think that everyone has to be molded into some cookie cutter life and that’s the only way to do it. People are still convinced the only way to live is to go to college then find a decent paying 9-5 job, which has turned more into an 8-5 job these days. But the job only matters if it has benefits, and paid vacation because if not you need to look harder.

People still think life should be lived in a college, work, retire, die pattern. They say you need a job first before you can do anything because you don’t have any money right now (thanks, college) that’s why people travel after they retire.

It’s bullshit.

Complete and utter bullshit.

You know what I want to do when I retire when I’m old as fuck??? No? Neither do I because I can’t predict what I’ll do when I’m 65 and wrinkly. But I know right now I want to travel, I want to see the world, make some memories, get drunk with people I just met somewhere and do shit that is acceptable for people in their 20s.

When I’m 65 I don’t think I’m going to be waking up in hostels with a bunch of drunk 20-somethings, but I know that’s what I want to do now.

Fuck the idea of living a certain way because it’s been engraved in your head by the adults in your life. Fuck the idea of doing things one way and one way only. There are so many more ways to make money in today’s world that you don’t need to go slave away in some shitty job that doesn’t appreciate you. I’m currently sitting on my couch, slippers on, feet on the coffee table working, and you know what? It’s a good life. I don’t get dressed in over priced clothes that no one wants to wear anyway, I could work naked if I really wanted because that’s the luxury of 2017. Hell, people make money just by posting a fucking picture on Instagram.

My point is this – there is no right way to live your 20s. You can quit doing whatever makes you happy at any point in your life. Quitting isn’t necessarily always a bad thing, either. If it’s not fulfilling you or making your life better then there’s no point to continue doing it.

There is no right path to take, there is no one who has it figured out and there is no timeline. You don’t have to be successful by the time your 20s are over in order to ever be successful, that’s simply not true.

You can do whatever it is that you want – you should do whatever it is you want and stop living a life that makes you miserable.

Take a path then realize it’s not for you and quit. Take a left when everyone else is taking a right. Travel while everyone else says “I wish I had your life” then tell them they could if they just started doing what they wanted instead of doing what they think they have to.

There is no right way to live your 20s, but there is a wrong way and that’s by doing shit that doesn’t make you happy. You are only in your 20s once. You will never, ever get this time back. One day someone will wake up at their dead-end job still doing errands for their boss and realize “I wasted my life” – don’t be that guy. That isn’t as good as it gets, not even close.

Find something that inspires you, find something that you love doing, find your passion and then find a way to make money off of it. I don’t care what anyone says, life is too short to be miserable and there are way too many paths you can take to even allow yourself to be miserable.

Take the path that makes you feel excited about your future and you’ll never live a life of dis-ease. There really isn’t a right way to live but the wrong way can make you live a life of regret. Stop doing what you think you’re supposed to do and start living how you really want to. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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