Gone are the days where the typical woman was wooed, married and settled down by 25. My parents themselves where married and had their own home, and child on the way at 24. This scares me slightly. I myself, am 22 years old and there is probably a very slim chance I will ever achieve that in a short 2 years. Why, you may ask? The simple answer is University and my career.
Seemingly, women these days are leaving it later and later to start family life, putting careers first and climbing the ladder of success. However does this worry me? Not more than it should, possibly. I want to achieve so much, so is this possible with a family in tow?
Of course it is. Simply swap your last minute Mojito nights for evenings cooking and chilling out in front of the TV. The world offers so much for "career" women these days and has got with the times. It is possible for a family girl to have a job, attend University and kick start her career. With so many government childcare for equal opportunities to those who choose to start family life early, gone our the days where a woman had to choose between bouncing babies and crisp designer suits.
And of course, there is the other side of the coin. Men taking on the roll of "house husband" and living life at home, looking after the children and doing the housework. While the woman are the main bread earners, 100 years ago this would have never even crossed the minds of those macho men. In such dismay to men, women are even climbing the salary ladder a lot faster than one may think.
It is amazing that there is so much choice these days. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed and question whether you are doing the right thing in life, like a lost kid in a sweet shop. As cliché as it sounds- things all make sense in the end. There have been so many times in life where things have
not gone my way, but it's always ended up to be perfect for me when it all pans out.
I myself am not ready to give up my flamboyant nights out, and waking up on days off at silly o'Clock in the morning (cough - afternoon); but I can feel myself "growing up" as it is as well. Gone are the days I'd roll in at 2am most mornings, and here are the possibly one-night a week cocktails and chill time talking about my week with close friends. The recent recession made life harder for many in the UK, causing strain in every part of life. People's careers where put on hold, and many had lost a sense of direction. Myself included.
In a way this has been a blessing. It's made me and other think long and hard about what they want to do for the rest of their life. It is also important to respect the chance to be able to work and see it as such a blessing.
For now, I am going to continue doing what I have always done. Let life pan out. Of course, you have to work hard to make your dreams come true- but don't be too disheartened when things don't go your way. Everyone is on a different path in life, and this is true. My top tip so far in my short life is to do what you love and surround yourself with who you love. Life is too short to do anything different.
Going back to my original comment, maybe it's not such a bad thing tables are turning and women have more choice these days. Without sounding like a complete feminist- we have fought for years for this to happen. Take chances and enjoy all the opportunities that have been presented to us.
If that's not something to smile about, I don't know what is.
