Don’t Live a Mainstream Life

What are our choices in today's society? Why is it that everyone is so mainstream? Nowadays everyone does the same thing: we grow up, finish high school, have a well paying career, work for the rest of our lives, perhaps get married and have kids, we receive loans and have bills to pay each month, until eventually we die. Why is it that in today's society we live to work our entire lives? Our government doesn't give us an actual life to live... but a life to work.

Our parents are a big influence in what we are going to be in life. Many of them also went through the Canadian school system, or if they didn’t, they believe it works, so they have the mainstream mindset. So not only do they put you on the same road as everyone else, but they also want you to waste your time and money on a post secondary school education. You would believe this is the best choice; to spend the most time as you can in school in order to get the best paying job you can get, because this is what we are told our entire lives by teachers, parents, and family members who care. But if you do go to college/university you are not guaranteed a job. In reality we are all looking at our parents and say “I never want to break my back like they did”. I know I believe this; I will always want to do better financially than my parents, and the response I always get from others are spend more time in post secondary but no one ever asked “what do you like to do”... No, all they say is go to school and get a diploma. Meanwhile, why would I get just any diploma in college when I didn't even need it in my future career and just waste thousands of dollars?

Now the school system in my opinion is the main reason we all grow up the same way and it influences us in the worst way possible. Let me start with elementary school where we all start off as kids in the school board. From grade 1-8 you don't learn very much, and you don't need to know anything because at the end of the year, if you do the work or not, they still pass you on to the next grade. So as soon as you get to high school you have three pathways chosen for you, determined by the classes you take: essential-workplace, applied-college, academic-university. By the age of 14 you’re pretty much told the path you’re going to take and at that age who knows what they’re going to be? I wanted to be a soccer player at 14! As years goes by you change your mind quite a lot in what you’re going to do as a career. On another note school, feels like a prison. All students in the school board are recognized by a number and every day's a routine schedule. What I'm pretty much trying to get at is that we are told all our lives to go to college/university and you’re guaranteed a job but that's not true at all. You’re guaranteed a diploma if you work hard, but that's it. You'll have to find your job at the end of the day.

Finally my last point: your career. So after all the school you just went through to find a job which the school “guaranteed” you, you find a job - but for many of us it's not the career we would like to have. You finally find one from calling companies yourself and going into interviews after interviews. So now let's say you’re in your mid 20's, and if you’re lucky, you just started your dream job. That’s great - but it’s not reality. You still need to find a job you love - I cannot emphasize this enough because you are going to have a job for the rest of your life, and if you hate it, that's how you become miserable. Having a career is a lot like having a wife/husband in the sense of commitment because in both situations you have to choose wisely because you have to really love what you do and really love who you’re with.

Like I said up above our government doesn't give us an actual life to live... but a life of work. I’ve provided proof on how the government controls us and manipulates us in three ways, through our parents our school system and even through the career we are going we have. They make us feel like we have to stay at our job forever. There are a few ways you could avoid living the life the government wants you to live. One way I thought of is having a job out of the ordinary such as an entrepreneur like employ yourself be your own boss. The paying bills part of this equation is pretty hard to avoid, but if you’re doing something you love, you can get through this. This idea may not work for you but it is your life to change any way you want. You only have one life so don't waste it. Don't have a mainstream mindset and don't do what everyone else is doing - be unique. Don't follow how the government wants you to live. So just be happy do what you love, and live the life you want to live.