"Life is a Journey, Not a Race."

I remember a long time ago, second grade specifically, my teacher had a sign outside of her classroom that read "Life is a journey, not a race." That line seems to be coming up frequently in my thought processes and my discussions with others these days...

With my 30th birthday looming about a month away, I've been feeling a lot of unintentional pressure lately and feeling like I'm not living up to others' expectations, like I'm "falling behind" so to speak. To that I pose a serious question: do you measure success by pieces of paper, things that you own, finding a partner, having children, etc? Why do humans get to decide the value of "things" and "measure success?" Despite the fact that I have very few of these things, I'd still consider my life a success to this point. I'm living, breathing and learning new things every single day and I've had some incredible experiences along the way.

By "normal" standards, I've also come pretty far. I went to high school, college, got a degree and a job just like I was "supposed to." So the next steps were to find a mate, buy a house, get married, have kids and continue on with the American lifestyle, working a 9-5 job for the rest of my adult life until retirement, right? At least, that's what I feel was expected of me. I've known for a while that that's just not what I'm looking for.

This doesn't mean I'm totally at peace with this feeling. I'm actually a little insecure about it. I don't know exactly where I "fit in," if I fit in at all, but I keep telling myself that's alright. I'd like to have children some day, but to try to schedule my entire life seems foolish. That's never been the way I've worked best. Things happen and plans get derailed, and just as often amazing things happen as well. Life is supposed to be organic.

What I'm really looking for is peace of mind, and to think that's going to be found in an office or a school or doing what others say I "should" be doing operating on anyone else's timetable but my own just doesn't make any sense to me. I'm going to find it and I'm going to find it naturally at my own pace. Life is a journey, not a race, and I'm not in any hurry right now.