Hey everyone. This thread is going to be a bit serious, at least more serious than most here. I want to ask you a question: What do you think is better and more worthwhile - doing what you want or doing what others want you to do? Now, don't laugh - I'm going to elaborate so that it doesn't become a no-brainer. Anyway, an hour or so ago I was chatting with my friend on Skype. She has a lawyer mother and a business owner father - quite well-off, to put it plainly.Anyway, she was telling me about this plan her parents had - at the end of 12th grade, she would know six languages, would have finished music school, etc. etc., and then in 11th grade would go to England to study(that counts as quite a prestigious opportunity, here in Latvia) and so on and so forth. Before that, we were talking about our schedule in and out of school, and she said she was constantly tired from running around so much, etc. So I asked her what she wanted to do. Not what her parents wanted her to do, but what she wanted herself to do. She said she would like to write, and act. The rest of the discussion isn't very important, but it got me thinking: What do I want to do? Of course, my parents want me to get a good education, a good job and a stable life(as all parents do, I guess), with the only difference being that we aren't as rich as her, which isn't such a large factor anyway. I just sat there for like 20 minutes, thinking about where my life was heading and how I'll turn out. I could turn out a well-off intellectual, but one who would have to go every day to work for 40 odd years or so, would have a mortgage on his car, apartment/house, etc. or I could turn out a 38-year old man playing good old rock and punkrock, having a blast with hippies, punks, etc., but living in a small apartment with little money to his name and little material wealth in general. Thing is, I don't know which one I want to be. Both are appealing, but both are also, at the same time, repulsive...if you get what I'm saying? So... any advice on the situation. Hopefully it isn't just my teenage hormones acting up.
Just go with the flow. Do what feels right. I'm only 16; you're only 14; one of these days something can blow our minds and change our course of life entirely. My advice is just do what feels right, do what you love, and try your best to enjoy it.
im sure you have more than two paths you could take. just take it as it comes and have fun. that story of your friend sounds exactly like the movie dead poet society
I know which one I'd rather do.. but then again nobody really wants to disappoint their parents (unless they're total dicks). You have more options than those two extremes - you say intellectual, why not head for a university position? So maybe teaching's not your bag, find a job where your skills are useful everywhere (carpenter for instance, skilled trades are always needed) and travel for a while. Use your carpentry (or whatever - you could busk or do live music, pick what you fancy) to get money for travel. See the world, broaden your horizons, then find the place you felt most at home in and live there. But then again what do I know? I'm just another traveler on the great road that is Life
