All my life I wanted to go to med school to help people, money/prestige didn't matter. I genuinely wanted to make the world a better place, I loved sciency stuff, I loved studying, I loved research, I really wanted to challenge myself. I was so naive and didn't really know the reality of the world.
Now that I'm much older and interacted with lots of people through buying/selling on marketplace, through my retail job, reading a lot of reddit posts on antiwork, LinkedInlunatics, AITA, existentialism, stoicism, this subreddit, random thoughts etc. I've also read memoirs, read history novels written in a narrative style, investigative books written by journalists.
I realise most adults are struggling to get by, working hard to pay bills and put food on the table.
Back in high school, I had no identity outside of studying.
Now I've actually got hobbies that I would've been previously embarrassed about, such as reading books, going to museums and art galleries, road trips, spending time with my family, playing piano, going to the gym, volunteering at a museum. I'm also not afraid to admit I'm an introvert.
My mindset has changed since I was in high school. When someone asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I'd say doctor.
But now I just want work life balance, simple lifestyle, leave work at work, minimal risk for making serious mistakes like what a doctor might face, low stress, i don't mind repetitive work.
No one really cares anyway what I choose. They're not consuming their life about me and I don't keep in touch with them. I just didn't think that one day I would wholeheartedly be okay with not wanting to go to med school.
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