so what if your life sucks

Whilst I enjoy the praise and admiration that comes with telling people about my plans for working in Kenya next year and my dreams for the future, I do not like the next few cliche lines that always come in reply...

"Oh, you might as well whilst you're young"

"Do it whilst you can, before you get married and have kids"

"When I was young I had dreams of travelling"

"I'm sure that when you get married and have kids you'll change your mind"

Well what if I don't?

What if I do get married and have children and still go on to stop the spread of infectious diseases in disaster zones and refugee camps? Or what if I don't get married? Or get married, but don't have children? Or what if I have a child without getting married?

What if my calling in life is to "do it all"?

Who says that by getting married and having kids it means that I have to get myself into an enormous amount of debt, but a house 50km away from the city and only ever travel to Bali?

Who says that I have to live in Australia (except my Mother, love you Mum!)? Why can't I live in rural god-knows-where and do infectious disease work and send my kids to boarding school? Or find myself moving cities/countries/continents every few years like I have been for the past six years? 

Why is it that everyone seems to have it decided on what I will do, when I don't even know  really what I'm doing past Christmas this year? 

Look, I'm sure that you will consider that I am being naive and unrealistic, and I'm sure that in the future my position may change, but I feel the need to vent my frustration from sitting in a conference with random strangers who felt the need to tell me that when I grow up that things will change. 

Can someone please tell me when this "growing up" thing will happen? Because I'm sure that at 28 years old, having a Bachelors and two Masters degrees, living away from my parents for the past six years and two of those being overseas, I'm sure that I've got a rather good grasp of who I am, what I want to do, and where I'm bloody well going!

These same people who tell me that when I grow up I'll want to settle down are the same kind of people who used to tell me when I was younger that I could do anything I wanted to, that I should keep my options open, and above all... I shouldn't settle for just any man. 

Have you stopped to think that maybe I am doing these things because I'm not married or have even the slightest hope of it, and rather than sit around and wait for some guy, that I'm going out there and using my education for something useful rather than earning money? Have you thought that I don't actually like the fact that I'm 28 and still single, and by now I thought that maybe I could've possibly been maybe engaged and on my way to being married? Or maybe even "settled down"? It's entirely possible that I could do useful infectious disease research here in Australia you know.

Grrr. 

Okay, rant over, go about your lives now. 

And please sponsor me to get to Kenya! Click on those two cuties on the top right corner to donate through paypal. Cheers!