"Life is not linear"

Through the last couple of years I’ve been told this quite a few times. Mostly by my friend Jake. I took some unconventional choices on how to live my life and still those choices sometimes cause doubt.

‘Why did I leave a career in engineering behind?’

‘Should I go back to engineering?’

‘Is this really what I should be doing?’

And don’t get me wrong, I stand 200% behind these decisions. I would’ve been very unhappy and dissatisfied with my life if I hadn’t. It’s just that in certain moments, mostly when financial instability is involved, I wonder if this life is really what I want. Together with this doubt, comes the pressure of society’s expectations of one’s life; 9 to 5 jobs, investing in a house, marriage, children, and all the things we are apparently supposed to do at certain moments in our life. From the moment we arrive in this world, expectations start adding. We should be this size, have that weight, start crawling then, and the list pretty much keeps growing the older we get. But that’s not really how life works.

Life is unpredictable in its nature. In every moment, situation life brings us unexpected twists, turns and challenges to face. Every choice we make or door we open, bring the opportunity to open many more, which causes infinite amount of opportunities linked unforeseen outcomes. This unpredictability of life often lead to growth, resilience and self-discovery.

I studied engineering and worked as one for a few months. Quickly I felt like I wasn’t supposed to live my life like this, so I went from that stable, respectable job, straight into an unpaid internship which many people around me weren’t able to grasp. As it was very uncomfortable for myself to make this change, it also felt like the right one. From what I remember from school, that’s not very linear at all. Going even further in time, I went to kindergarten only able to say one thing ‘gigi’. Teachers didn’t know what to do with me. My parents told me they didn’t wanna let me come first, just because I wasn’t ‘on the curve’.

Change is not a bad thing, it’s a natural part of life’s journey. All the deviations and detours we experience in life, bring us to unexpected places. These unexpected and new impulses give us lots of new opportunities to grow and become a better version of ourselves. I’m not saying they’ll all be positive, there are inevitably failures and setbacks involved. But even these will make us gain new perspectives, learn new insights, teach resilience and eventually lead to personal and professional growth.

I truly believe that one’s adaptability to new circumstances will lead to a more fulfilling and enriched existence. So for me ‘Life is not linear’, is something I think about a lot. We all live our lives at different speeds, in different flows, making decisions on every turn and being open and excited for the unexpected places they will bring us.

For me, change and unexpected turnouts have given me the most beautiful memories I could’ve asked for. They have learned me about myself, about other people and changed my perspective multiple times. I feel like they’ve made me into the person I am today and looking back I’m very grateful to have been able to make those changes. I wouldn’t want any other experience of life. As we have just changed into another year, I’ll put it out there. Onto another year of living next to the curve!

Did you end up next to the linear curve before? Or are you about to? Don’t hesitate to share.