Although this is not a post reviewing this book I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good raunchy romance story. Its a seriously relateable book and I would would be a good read for anyone in their twenties who is stressing about their overall life plan.
The reason I wanted to write this post is the overriding theme of the book is there is no right way to live life. The book focuses around the idea that we have a predetermined path expected of us by society and it can be tricky to deviate from it. As young adults we feel a huge pressure to get our lives together and to start being a responsible mature adult. Slack on this front and you will feel the full force of everyone's disapproval but this can also happen the other way round. Grow up too quick and people will question if you have made a rash decision or bitten off more than you can chew as you are 'too young to know what you want'.
What I loved about this book was the way it encouraged me to pursue what I want and my own happiness. Life is complicated and the right way for most people may or may not be the right way for YOU. And that is absolutely fine. Only you can know what is right for you and by making that choice you also accept the consequences should it not work out. Having said this people mature at different rates and we should allow for this. You might be 30 and nowhere near ready to settle down but you might be 20 and totally in the right place mentally. We are all different and I think you are mature enough to do what you want if you are capable of dealing with any potential fall out.
If there is one thing we have to accept is we cannot control life and the timing we have in our heads does not always match up to the reality. Sometimes opportunities do not come along at the right time but we should take them anyway as we all have to learn from our mistakes.
The other thing we have to remember is you are not a failure if you deviate from the predetermined path. For instance I originally applied to study Veterinary Science at uni and had dreamed of becoming a vet for a long time. I was a good candidate, my grades were good enough, I had done loads of work experience plus I grew up on a farm with a lifetime experience with animals. However after one interview I received no offers and it was probably one of the lowest points of my life. All around me my friends had their pick of 5 unis and I didn't even have one. I vividly remember the day I got my final rejection and when I told my friends I didn't get a single offer one of them replied "Yeah Amber, you think YOUR news is bad? I got rejected from Exeter today". I wanted to punch her as I knew she had 4 other offers from really good universities which included both of her top choices and had never had any intention of going to that uni in the first place. As I went to a highly competitive grammar school I was one of the few girls not to receive any offers and I had no clue what to do with my life.
But I had to pull myself back together and make some tough decisions. I've never been one for quitting and I desperately wanted to reapply. However there are only a handful of veterinary schools in the UK. Two of these are in Scotland and one is Cambridge and I didn't want to go to any of these. This only left with me with my 4 original choices (RVC, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol) and several of these were planning on raising their entry requirements or did not allow repeat applications. I decided that maybe this wasn't the career path for me and decided to change direction instead of giving up. The point is that this does not make me a failure just because I did not follow the expected path for me. Its made me who I am today and I do not regret the decision.
In conclusion: respect the opinions of those older and wiser than you. They probably do know better. But that isn't always the point. You have to learn your own way and we must be prepared to be flexible with our overall life plan as you never know whats going to happen. The right path for some is not always the right one for you. Know and trust yourself.
Also the book is a seriously good read. Check it out if you get bored ;)
Picture: Pinterest.
No comments:
Post a Comment