Remember as kids we were dreaming to be just like our parents?!
Remember growing up and thinking that’s not the life I want to have?
Remember parents telling you what path to choose, which college degree to go for, to follow the PLAN?
We all heard of the plan. Some of us more then others, however we all have been told (at one point in our lives) what should we do with our life.
The Plan consists of graduating high school, choosing good college, getting a good degree (which helps us to get a good job, like being a lawyer, a doctor or an accountant etc), then marry, get a job, buy a house, have children and go to the same type of the job for the rest of our lives.
What happens when we don’t follow the plan?
Take me for example, I graduated University with my MA in English, my dream was to become a translator. I wanted to translate books, I could imagine myself sitting in front of the computer, with lots of dictionaries and just read and translate. The problem came up when I applied for a job after my graduation. I’ve heard I have no experience, but when I was in college I couldn’t get a job because I didn’t have my degree yet. So it was a bit of a close circle. So very quickly I decided that there is no point chasing the job which may not happen at all. I’ve decided to go to Ireland to be an Au-pair for few months (once again). I wanted to get away and clear my head and decide what should I do. Because of the host family situation I was encouraged to seek other form of employment. I ended up in a call-centre, started at the very bottom and work my way up to being a supervisor and a trainer. In the meantime I got my Post-Grad management diploma. Got married and when everyone in my family thought I am back on track with my plan. We decided to move to Malta. We had dream of starting our own business in a nice warm place. Some of our friends were supportive, however most of them thought that we were crazy. After 2 years we came back to Ireland with our first born, started our second business and completing our dreams and longings.
There is no person in our family who would actually understand why we decided to follow our dreams rather then the plan. We both saw our parents working so their children have better life, no having a life of their own and making a lot of sacrifices for their own offspring. Putting their dreams aside because you need to pay of mortgage and go on family vacation.
Don’t get me wrong if there is someone who is happy to follow the plan and put aside their dreams it is fine by me, However I believe people like us who don’t follow the plan should be encouraged to follow their dreams.
I’ve learned that we have our struggles, but working on something together, creating a business together, make our bond even stronger and because of that we have much more time for our kids and our children have happy, fulfilled parents. We are raising happy, positive children so one day they decide to chose direction which is good for them and not feeling pressured about following the plan. They way I see it, it is their lives and they need to experience the life to its fullest and as parents we can’t force them what to do and which direction to follow.
What is your opinion on the subject? Would you want your child to follow the PLAN?
Aga Schnier is a founder of ParentingClub2014, Mother and Law of Attraction Master Practitioner which she currently uses to promote positive parenting techniques.
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