Not following the norm of society

How many of you have considered the fact that 90% of what you do and how you life goes seems to be based on the unwritten societal norm? Society tells us that we go to high school, go to college, get a job, get married, work till we are 65 or so, retire, and finally annoy the younger generations with long stories about how life used to be and suck up social security money. Those that dieviate from this plan are considered lazy, strange, and so on. We are told by those around us what we should like, what we should do for fun, who we should hang out with.

None of this appeals to me. I made the mistake of following the world up till now, and it has driven me to the point of insanity. I am almost done with college, still not sure what the hell I did here. I am not a typical college student, I don’t go to many parties, don’t hang out with the college crowd. I work on my jeep, fight fires, and repair shit. I haven’t dated in a while, partially since I can’t find a girl worth dating, partially since I frankly don’t want the limit on my life.

From here I have no clue where to go. Quite frankly my plan so far is to move where I want to be, stay single and work a job with the sole reason of making enough to provide the basics for the rest of my life. I think if I do it right I can have enough saved by the time I am 45 or so to stop having to work to pay for housing, food, and so on. From that point I will only work to afford my next project.

So is there any reason I can’t do it my way? Why are we such slaves to the norms?
It’s the blueprint for success. Going your own route is selfish and leaves you walking on the edge for the rest of your life. It seems easier and more interesting not to conform, but simplicity in life is ironically very difficult to achieve.

While that sounds very cool….in reality, it would probably be a very boring and lonely life.

You’re what, 20ish? And you think it’s odd that you don’t really know what you want to do with your life? That’s not unusual…it’s fairly common.
Sounds to me like you desire freedom.

Go for it.
After finishing HS, I was told by my mother not to consider the military because it was only for those who weren’t smart enough to get into college or could not afford it.

That’s one thing I wish I would have considered and perhaps one of only a few regrets I have today. I should have seriously considered and possibly gone into the military.
No there isn’t any reason you can’t do it your way. What you are talking about isn’t even that extreme, I’ve heard plenty of people talking about doing things like that. You want to work hard and save up enough money so that you have the freedom to do what you want. Sounds pretty normal to me… If you aren’t hurting anyone else then who cares what other people think? Live life for yourself, not to please other people.

Your mom is ridiculously misinformed.
I too share these feelings, I’m half way through college and almost everyday i think about why I’m doing what I’m doing. Why am I working, why am i driving this car, why do I suddenly check if I’m doing anything illegal when i see a cop car…
Then i think to myself… everywhere you go there is a government or higher power telling you what’s right and what’s not. There isn’t one place on this world that you can go that has no laws. In a land like that, however, it’s a given that there will be many killers, thieves, and maniacs but isn’t that how we were intended to live?… like animals? survival of the fittest right? no, sadly, I’ve found that that mantra has changed, it is now survival of the… smartest…
Seriously think of how kick ass our senses and awareness would be if we lived in a place like that? No police to protect you, no firemen to put out your fires, no one but perhaps your immediate family.

I don’t know… i think my post spun off on some weird extreme tangent, but in my head this is all linked and makes sense…lol.
There’s no set rules in life. The cookie cutter life you speak of is exactly that, the same for everyone. In general it has to be close to that life formula, but doesn’t have to be followed to a T.

I always did and still do what I want to do, and live with my decisions whether they be good or bad. Moved to another State, then another Country. You can do it.

Society isn’t your obstruction, it’s procrastination.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 12:11 am and is filed under main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.