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25.2.10

Why Living the Cookie Cutter Lifestyle Makes my Tummy Rumble.

Sometimes you have to step back and see what you're getting yourself into.

When I was growing up, I was taught that life proceeded as follows:

Go to school -> Get a job -> Go to college -> Get a career -> Get married -> Buy a house -> Raise a family -> Retire at 60 -> Die

Oh and get some cool toys so you don't end up miserable with the process.

All my "strategic" choices for the first 20 years of my life involved fitting into this lifestyle track.  Heck, I was even told to study business in college because it would mean that I would have a job once I graduated (thankfully I added a second major, otherwise I would have gone nuts).  I followed all this guidance because it was what I was supposed to do to be successful.

Today, I can't help but laugh.  If that's success, I want to be a complete failure. 

I could go on a rant about how the educational system in America is building a society of automatons, but I'll leave that for another time.  However, I can tell you right now that I have read more in the past 3 months compared to the first 18 years of my life.  It's invigorating.  I have learned more about myself and the world around me now than what any college class ever taught.  And I'm just getting started.

I question everything I do.  I actively choose my attitude and my behaviors.  I breathe in life, and spit out hot fire (hot sauce... yum).  I have become the person I've always wanted to be.  And this American Dream... this cookie cutter lifestyle... it just doesn't sit well with me anymore.