Growing up in a western culture and American society many people would call themselves fortunate. I on the other hand find it terrifying. The American society has shaped our lives to a T. People who don’t follow the same paths as their peers are looked down on and questioned upon. You’re expected to graduate high school and move on to university right away. You’re expected to get a job, settle down, and have a family. All of this is absolutely okay and I know plenty of people who have followed that path but that’s not for me. I’ve lost sight of that trail a long time ago. I love learning new things. I think knowledge is the most powerful tool that you can acquire. I am free spirited. I love to read, I love to learn, I love to explore, I love to feel myself grow. Why should I be expected to spend thousands of dollars that I either don’t have or could use to support myself, in order to learn from appropriate “academic standards”. In order to be socially accepted and fit in with the “societal standards”. Why can I not get a handful of jobs because I didn’t purchase myself  a little piece of paper with a few signatures on it. Call me crazy but I honestly don’t care what job I have or what company I work for. I care about how happy I am and what I can do for the man next to me to make him even happier every day. I admit, having money is important. If you can’t financially support yourself than you’ll find yourself at a stand still or a down fall. But don’t take the corporate job because of the pay check. Don’t take the editorial job because your major falls in their category. Take the job because it makes you happy. Take the job because you enjoy the location and the people around you. 
Again, don’t get me wrong. I would love to finish my degree and have that accomplishment but I just don’t see myself rationalizing spending money on such materialistic standards. I rationalize spending the money I earn traveling, eating good food, and supporting my families living. The job I take to get all that? I honestly just don’t care. As long as I am happy and enjoy doing what ever job I am doing, I will be content with it. 

Right now I’m scooping ice cream on a beautiful island. I meet new people every day, I get to scuba dive on my hours off and I even am lucky enough to wake up every morning to a handsome man. As a 23 year old is society impressed by the fact that my resume consists of waitressing jobs and ice cream scooping? Who the hell cares. Why does it even matter! I have found myself at a point in life where I am the happiest I’ve ever been, and a lot of that has come from working for $9.00 a day at an ice cream stand in the gulf of Thailand. 

So what am I saying here? I’m saying I am a 20-something that has trailed off societies expectations. I’m saying that it’s okay to take a job that society might not understand. I’m saying we are society, and maybe it’s time to dig out an alternate path to take when the one you’ve grown accustomed too just doesn’t make sense. It’s time to stand up for your happiness and realize that if you’re not happy with your job, chances are you’re not happy with your life, and if you’re not happy with your life than you’ll never understand how it really feels to be alive. And in this world today, we desperately need more people who feel alive. We don’t need more psychologists, lawyers or doctors. We need story tellers, explorers, and compassionate friends. We need people who are not just living but are feeling alive and radiating that energy toward a society who has lost the true ways of fulfilling their lives.