Expectations

When I sit down to make a decision, the thought "What would be the best for me" isn't always at the top of the list. Often it comes down to "What would my family think", "How would my family feel" "how would my parents react". Yeah I know these are a bit strange for a 27 year old man to have, but my family are still factored into my decisions.
When I say family I naturally mean my parents, grandparents, siblings and so on, not a wife and kids. In my Supertramp post I talk a little bit about the "wish for adventure" that every young man has, its kind of grown into us through the stories we read. Me, I grew up on "The Hardy Boys", "Bill and Ben", "Morgan Kane". I read other books like the futuristic stories of Jules Verne, I'm not going to list them because I don't know the English titles of all of them. "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. I still on occasion have dreams of discovery, and adventure, sure not in the exact same way as when I was 10ish but the urge is similar.

Society isn't equipped for this anymore though, for most their great adventure is a 2 - 3 month trip spent backpacking in Europe. Think about a 15 year old boy/man signing on a ship to sail to Asia, America, Africa about 30 - 40 years ago in Norway this was almost commonplace.
The dream of the great white north, for Supertramp, regardless of his mental state at the time (I think he was in the middle of a serious psychological breakdown) was something alien to him, that should be so much nearer to us.
The more technologically advanced we get, the further away from our nature do we go, the more "subdued" our instincts become. Now I'm not saying that everyone needs to strip nekkid and run into the woods, I'm saying that the urge to explore the unknown is human. The need to discover new things is human, but they do not fit into todays society as much. "A High school diploma is the key to the future" oh wait its useless since you pretty much need a bachelor these days, oh wait no maybe a Master.
Sure there are stories of some guy dropping out at 15 and then becoming a multimillionaire but those are rather rare. The level of education leads to people getting out into life later, with more student loans, more responsibilities and so on.

When a person spends from age 6 - 18 in school, then becomes "an adult" and passes into 3 - 4 years of college, then perhaps graduate studies, and a person is in their late 20s before they finish their schooling. At this point the pressure to find a significant other and procreate increases because after all "By the time I was x I had 3 kids".
Sure its possible to have kids until you die as a man but quite frankly I would like to be young enough to still actively take part in my children's life.
I don't want to be the grayhaired dad with the potbelly stretched out beyond the bleachers, who goes out of breath screaming at the ref. Or the guy sitting halfway down the slope drinking hot chocolate while his kids are having the time of their life.

But by the time I have children if I do, I would like to have things relatively well set up for them to be born. I'd like my life to be stable, to have the financial means and time to be there in their lives, and not some dad who has to spend 60 - 80 hours a week at work.
So if I finish school at 27, get a job right away, it will take a few years before I can build up the financial "power" to build or buy a home big enough for my future family. I also need to find a suitable mate, and make sure that relationship is suitable for a child. So time is of the essence if you're looking to sort everything out.

Now sure thinking that far ahead is just distracting, but for someone getting bombarded by suggestion every day, from parents, media, society and so on its a whirlwind of WTF. So many expectations, so many thoughts and options, so little time.