Late Bloomer

Ok, so I'm a late bloomer in life... got married late, perhaps will go back to school and land a "real" career late, may become a mother late, will have a family of my own and own my own home late.. and when I say late I'm meaning later than most or the average gal. However, who says it's late and who says when is when... why do we all feel we have to do or have to have done certain things by a certain age? I guess the inevitable "biological clock" is a factor in one important milestone in a woman's life (pregnancy and childbirth).. unfairly, of course, not a man's... but we won't get into that here. The other milestones and when we should have experienced them is all what society has told us. Who does society think it is? Society, the majority of people voicing their opinions as a collective whole and defining how we, individuals, should live our lives. I'm sorry but the last time I checked the only opinion anyone should be concerned with when it comes to their lives and when/if they chose to do things in it is the big guy's... that's right, God. People say they have a mind of their own, but how many of us do really?? How many people in your life do you know that really live their lives and do/did things in them in their own time? How many people in your life do you know that are now single parents, divorced, got a degree they'll never use, in a high paying job or making big money but are miserable, or going through some crazy mid-life crisis because they never took the time to stop and smell the roses or do their own thing in their lives... I'm not saying those are horrible things but sometimes they are the result of giving in and doing things when people tell you you should do them or trying to live up to some societal standard. My point here is... life is personal, life isn't supposed to be the same for every individual. Yet we constantly find ourselves comparing ourselves with our peers lives. It's sad and a serious waste of our precious time while we are here. We each chart our own course and destiny whatever that may be... and late bloomers are just as intelligent, unique, exciting, and inspiring than the rest of society who opted to live up to the so-called "standards". Perhaps we are even more so because we are not the norm... we stepped out of the long line of followers on the freeway driving their SUVs and chose to go down a less trodden path alone in a little VW bug instead. We followed our heart and said NO, when we were told we should be saying yes. We are the few, the proud, and the "I don't live my life by your rules" brave.