Today we live in such a different and diverse society. When you look back in history people were a lot more similar than they are today. In today’s society we all have the same basic needs in order to live, but different personalities. We have different reactions to various situations, and most importantly: different methods of acquiring what we need and want. One thing that stands out to me the most is how every person has their own goals and dreams for themselves. I find it so interesting to see how those dreams and goals compare to others.
In order to get what we need in life, most people have the goal of getting a job. Others think of other ways to get rich quickly whether it be a legal or illegal way. To achieve our goals in life we all believe in different things to inspire us. For example, some people believe they are simply perfect and will get the job that they are reaching for. Others believe that they have a chance but they remain optimistic. There are also those who believe that their shot of landing the job is quite slim.
I find it so intriguing how we all think so differently. We are different people, with different goals and dreams and we are pretty special if you really think about it. We are lucky to be able to be the people in which we strive to be.
Out of curiosity, I asked some of my friends what their overall goal in life is because I wanted to see how theirs compared to mine and to each other. These are what six of my friends said:
1. “To teach kindergarten or first grade and have a big family with many kids from different backgrounds and cultures so I can help give them a better life.”
2. “To find someone who makes me happy and starts a family with them. Have a job that I absolutely love and just make my family so loving where the kids and the parents get along very well.”
3. “To find someone with similar interests as me and makes me feel happy and doesn't hold me back. To have three adorable children and live a happy and loving life.”
4. “To graduate college, be a flight attendant for a few years so I can travel and save up some money. Then get a good job in a city somewhere and make enough money to be good on my own. Find a guy with a good job and good morals, that is more like your best friend, get married and actually be in love and have kids and live in either a suburb or a city.”
5. “To grow up and be a famous actress. Marry a country boy and have about 6 children. Build a huge house on a huge piece of land in Nashville, Tennessee with horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and lots of dogs; as well as have a lake home in Minnesota. I want to travel the country giving speeches on the importance of early childhood education and enriching our children vs. demeaning them. I would ride four wheelers one day and walk the red carpet the next. Basically have the best of both worlds. I would be the best Mom ever and take care of my Dad so he could do whatever he wanted to do. My best friend would live right next door and would come over for dinner every night. I also would hope that all of my sicknesses would go away because by then there would be a cure for them all.”
6. “To be a good Mom and leave a positive impact on younger people. I want to contribute to my children and give them everything that they want and I just want them to feel safe in my home. I want to fall in love romantically until I die, but if not, I’ll be in love with my children forever.”
After hearing all of what my friends had to say I was quite amused. Almost all of them want the basic life that all of the society seems to strive for. Even though we are all so different we all seem to want the same exact things in life with a few minor differences. Seeing this it made me question a few things: Although we are all so different why are there goals that people are looked at to achieve? Why do people think it is wrong for someone to not want to get married, have children, and create the typical family? Why can’t you just be happy on your own and go out and experience what the world has to offer? I mean, I know you could go out and do these things but at the same time, it's just not the typical thing to do in today’s society. I ask myself these questions almost every day.
For me, there are days where I personally feel that I want to get married and have a family and live the typical “American Life”. I love children and I want to be a teacher when I grow up while being a photographer and artist on the side. I even have my children’s names picked out along with where I want to live. However, there are also many days where I tell myself that I want to travel the world and not be held back from achieving that dream by having to take care of a family. I hate how I let what the typical thing to do in society dictates my own life but I feel like almost everyone does that. Because it is the typical thing to do it almost seems easier than really trying to achieve what it is that you want in life. It would be so much harder to try to find ways to compromise what you want in life with what you need or should do. I feel like it just takes time and eventually things will work themselves out. You can’t be afraid to take risks and make wrong decisions because that is the only way that you will learn from them. I need to remember this and work on finding what it is that will make me the most successful in life as well as make me happy and proud. People should stop being afraid of being different in the world and be who they want to be with nothing holding them back. All of this makes me wonder how we are all so different but at the same time so similar. It is mind blowing.
