Social Timelines. The Tyranny of Imposed Milestones

The Universal Belief of a Predetermined Path

In today's world, many of us fall into the widespread idea that we don't have enough time for anything, living in a complete state of stress.

This feeling comes from the belief that we are obliged to reach certain stages of our lives within a very specific and predetermined time frame.

We live with the constant pressure of a script that we have not written, a life structure that we have adopted from the expectations that surround us since we were born.

This mentality makes us feel that time is running out, generating anxiety about not complying with a calendar that, in reality, was never designed by us.

We cling to these ideas, falling into a trap that generates an immense amount of stress throughout the different stages of our lives.

The Socially Accepted Life Map

This socially accepted life map dictates, for example, that we must finish school at eighteen years old in order to then continue with university studies and specializations.

Society and our families have sold us the idea that by the age of thirty we should already have a stable partner, a home and our own car.

It is expected that by that age we will have a job with a salary sufficient to be able to pay for a house, and that our first child will already be on the way.

This model of life prescribes a series of material and personal achievements that must be reached on very specific dates in order to be considered successful by those around us.

It is a rigid and structured path that goes from formal education to starting a family, leaving very little room for deviations or personal rhythms.

The Origin of Pressure: Society and the Family

It is essential to ask ourselves who gave us this idea of life, who was the architect who structured our path in such a rigid and seemingly immutable way.

The answer is that these expectations come from multiple sources, such as our parents, the culture in which we live and the experiences passed down from other people.

These ideas are passed down from generation to generation as if they were absolute truths, creating a strong social pressure for us all to conform to the same model of life.

Unconsciously, we cling to these external mandates and fall into the trap of trying to live a life that is not our own, which causes great stress.

The Stress of Not Living Up to the Established Script

The problem gets worse when we reach that certain age, like twenty-seven or thirty, and we realize that we have not lived up to those expectations.

The awareness of not having the stable partner, the house, or the expected job plunges us into a profound sense of failure and of falling behind.

This feeling of not living up to the social script is one of the most powerful and direct causes of the anxiety that many people experience.

The pressure to meet these milestones robs us of peace and prevents us from valuing our own and the only way, filling us with a constant concern for the passage of time.