Most people start off with some kind of plan that concerns the direction they would like their life to take, but things rarely go to plan. Sometimes, life just throws up unexpected events that make you re-evaluate your priorities and set you on a different path. As you get older, your interests, likes and dislikes may change and what you enjoyed doing when you were young may no longer hold any enjoyment for you. The world looks a very different place when you're in your thirties as opposed to in your late teenage years. You usually have more responsibilities and life is no longer all about you.
How much of your life plan comes to fruition undoubtedly depends on how realistic your plan was to begin with. If you hoped to become a millionaire within a couple of years, despite having very little academic aptitude, entrepreneurial know-how or the right connections, it is hard to imagine anyone succeeding. If, on the other hand, you were hoping to become a doctor, and you've taken all the right subjects at school and gone on to university to study medicine, you're definitely in a better position to achieve success.
Yet, even then, things can change. You may have planned to go to university, but failed some of your examinations or become ill and had to take time off. Suddenly, you're forced to think about what other options are out there for you. You may realise that what you thought wanted is no longer the case. Often, students turn up at university with the intention of studying a particular course, only to discover that they actually find it really boring! This then leads them to question other goals they had set themselves, thus altering their plans along the way.
It's not only education and career plans that often don't turn out the way you planned. Often, your social life can take unexpected turns, whilst your plans for a family may not always turn out the way you expected. Plus, there are other things in life that can hit you unexpectedly, such as ill health or an accident. When it comes to your social life, you may find that you are no longer as close to people you once had an extremely strong bond with, as your life takes a different course. It may be that you have children and settle down whilst your friends continue to go out partying and living the high life, or it may be that you're the one who refuses to settle down.
Ultimately, you can't control everything that happens in life. Even when you set yourself goals and have some idea of what you'd like to achieve, things can happen to change your mind. As you're exposed to different people and situations, your attitudes, beliefs and interests can change and what used to matter to you no longer does. Consequently, the way you saw your life going when you were younger begins to change dramatically. If you've felt constrained by the plan you made for yourself, it can be somewhat liberating to acknowledge that you no longer want what you thought you once did and to take a different route.
Having said that, it can also throw you into a sense of doubt and make you question everything, especially if you no longer have any idea where you're heading. Clearly, when things are taken out of your hands you can feel powerless and end up becoming depressed. You can't help falling ill or losing someone close to you, and so you just have to learn to move on and look for other things in life to focus on. What is clear is that no matter how many plans you make and well-organised you are, you have to learn to expect the unexpected, because that is what life is like!
No comments:
Post a Comment