There's a Process for EVERYTHING in Life.

If I've learned anything in my twenty-seven years, there's no way to skip through this process that gets you where you want to be — where God wants you to be.

The funny part is we think we know what that process is supposed to look like.

We create a one-year, five-year, and ten-year plan thinking life will follow exactly as planned.

But that rarely ever happens.

I'm not sure where this idea stemmed — if life doesn't go according to our plan, we've failed, or we must have done something wrong along the way.

My life has not panned out AT ALL as I expected. The irony is I've accomplished some of my biggest dreams along the way.

I can't say I did it all myself. That's another lie I've come to realize society tells us.

That somehow, we're supposed to do it all on our own or take credit for things accomplished in community.

Some of my biggest dreams have been realized because there were people in my life that helped me in a moment of need.

Their help got me through some of the most difficult times in my life and onto the next season.

So with that said, here are a few lies I've learned society still upholds as benchmarks for what a good and admirable life looks like:

You need to go to college or have a higher education degree.

College and university are not the way. At least not for everyone.

I learned that lesson the hard way — student loans.

I have two degrees, one being a master's, a bachelor's, and a translation certificate — is it three, then? Doesn't matter.

Am I currently using any of these degrees? Nope!

I work full-time as a bartender, and I write on the side.

So how did I end up here?

I was laid off from two office jobs because these companies cared more about their bottom line than a human being's needs.

Sure, there are more nuanced reasons why companies choose to lay people off. But the reality was I got laid off again and needed another way to provide for myself.

If companies were the ones that kept laying me off when they promised me a job for a relatively long period, maybe it was time I looked into other options.

It just so happened that I was offered the opportunity to bartend.

At first, I treated it like a side job. Something to do on the weekends to distract me from FOMO, where I could be making money instead of spending it.

Soon after starting, I was laid off, and bartending became my primary source of income.

It's remained that way since because most office jobs don't offer anywhere near what I make working as a bartender.

The funny thing is I had these plans where I was going to climb the corporate ladder.

But God ditched my plan out the window and gave me His to follow.

You need to get married, buy a house, and have at least one child on the way before turning thirty.

I find this pressure is felt more by women than men.

We've been told all our lives that being a mother is the greatest gift we will have.

I can't help but think God made women capable of so many other things besides bearing children.

Doesn't that mean that having children is an option?

With men, the pressure to succeed is almost unbearable.

I see them constantly trying to prove that they are working toward a successful career or are seeing the fruits of their labor.

However, with women, if we're not married and having children before we're thirty, society deems us as failures.

As if our only contribution is only seen as worthy if we accomplish these things before this imaginary deadline.

The irony is that circumstances and conditions outside of our control — consequences of decisions made before Millenials and Gen Z were born — have put us in a position where even if we want these things, they've become very hard to acquire.

If these options were readily available, I'm sure plenty of people would be partaking in them.

But unfortunately, the reality is many people are going to college and getting into debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars before turning twenty-one.

After graduating, they get jobs that barely cover their living expenses because wages have not kept up with inflation.

This lifestyle that was once common isn't anymore — it's a luxury reserved for the upper class.

You need to crack the code to become a millionaire in a short time — another feat to be accomplished by the time you're thirty.

The world of social media and entertainment keeps fooling us into thinking that overnight success is a possibility.

The rise of influencers and social media stars is working wonders for our self-esteem — note the immense amount of sarcasm.

There appear to be hundreds of social media influencers who are making six to seven figures based on content showing a luxurious lifestyle.

Yes, maybe they do have all that money, but what are their lives actually like?

Do they have genuine friendships? Do they have friends at all? Could they be in debt up to their eyeballs? Who really knows?

Something we need to remind ourselves of is we do not know what goes on behind the scenes.

It shouldn't be a requirement to make all this money at a relatively young age.

I'm not saying don't strive to be a millionaire. If that's what you want, go for it.

But don't think that because it hasn't happened before or by the time you're thirty, you've failed or you no longer have opportunities to succeed.

This new order that social media has created scares me more because of the younger generations that don't know a world without it.

I'm happy to have been born a millennial because I remember a time when all these platforms didn't exist — I remember a time when things were or felt simple, without the pressures we see today brought by social media.

Although there's a great opportunity in becoming an influencer — I won't deny the monetary potential — what does it really cost?

If your dreams are not of becoming a super successful millionaire entrepreneur before you're thirty, you're fine.

Dreams come in all forms, shapes, and sizes, which means not everyone is going to want the same thing — that is perfectly fine.

It's funny how we think we're all supposed to follow the same or very similar blueprints to have a good life.

God and life have taught me that things will happen, and the only thing I can do is adapt and adjust.

The truth is, there's very little in our control — we only get to choose how we think and respond.

Knowing this has freed me from the continuous stress of thinking things are supposed to be different, and my life was supposed to follow a different path.

It wasn't. I was meant to walk down this unknown road whether I like it or not.

We are where we are because of the consequences of our decisions and the consequences of decisions made by those who have an impact on our lives.

As I said, all we can do is adapt and adjust to the best of our ability.

I've learned to stop fighting the current and instead go with it.

So far, it's brought blessings into my life. Sure, things are not perfect, and sometimes there are difficult moments.

But letting go of this idea that society's plan is the best and only one has freed me to see a world of other possibilities.

I have no clue where I will be five years from now or even a year from now. I do have hopes and ideas. But if those don't happen, that's okay.

My life won't be any more or less meaningful because of it.

I know God has a plan for my life — the point of having faith is that we don't know what will happen.

Faith is choosing to believe. And I believe my life will turn out to be pretty awesome — I have proof. It's already pretty great.