>>7429528Having studied hard my whole life to get into a good college where I worked extremely hard to get good grades to get into a job I thought I needed to satisfy my parents has brought me nothing.
I went from a regimented disciplined childhood, with a narrow focus and totally lost my adolescence and am now an unhappy, maladjusted adult - straight into the workforce.
I got to visit japan when I graduated college and I fell in love with the country for a million simple reasons but I went right into a job that's commanded 70-80 hours a week, I don't have the time to commit to learning the language and as such cannot make a life there despite having the skills and education to make a living and life a quiet life, working hard and enjoying the little things that I finally connected with there.
I know I can quit and deal with the consequences but that phantom of expectation, mostly self imposed has completely immobilized me.
Tomorrow I will wake up at 5:45, dress and shuffle on and I know Im gonna wake up in 35 years and wonder what it was all for.
Please, please chase what you love. If you fail you'll figure something else out. If you fail at that, at least you aren't dead - or dying any faster than the rest of us.