I was never one for rules

In what order do you feel this life should go? Should we go to university, get a good paying job, buy a house, meet our soul mate, get engaged, buy a new car, get married, get pregnant, have a baby - life complete? Should we hold off on exploring the world until we have a degree? Should we abort our babies because we are not married? Why have we set up these expectations of one another as if to set some sort of guidelines for life. If there is nothing else Ive learned, I know that I've learnt that there is NO road map. You cannot plan life, for it happens whether we seek some sort of control over it or not. And even so, why do we care what one another do? Why do we care how it goes, or when or why or how? We spend so much time concerning ourselves with things that do not matter because it is not our life, and we set such unrealistic guidelines and expectations up for ourselves that we are left with tremendous guilt and shame for some sort of misconceived notion of "failure". I am so tired of having looks of sympathy and remorse because my children have different fathers, and that I haven't went back to school YET, or that I am not getting married next year! I am very proud to say that I roll with the punches, because in the world we live in that is all we can do. I make my own choices, and whether or not they fit your cookie-cutter perception of how this life should go, I am smiling. We only have one shot - so why let yourself feel defeated about something you cannot change? Why let our societies ideals and schedules interfere with what YOU want to do with your life? I am happy with my life, and I hope you are too.