What does 'life isn't linear' mean?

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Overheard in a conversation at work today - wasn't earwigging honestly, we work in open plan so you hear everything.
I've no idea what 'life isn't linear' means. Any ideas?

Means life isn't a straight line, there will curves & bumps in it.

Doesn't go in a straight line, so some bumps along the way.

My interpretation; Things don't necessarily follow on like a nice story. So, its not automatically " date marry kids " for example. Life is messy, things don't go to plan.

It just means it doesn't go in a straight line. While you might have plans as simple as school>uni>job>marriage>kids, life might have a different idea!

it's not straightforward? it won't move in a perfect sequence one step at a time? it doesn't go the way you expect it to go in a perfect scenario?
This is what I would personally think it meant.

Thank you - I'd never heard it before. The people having the conversation are both married (to other people), I've kept out of the rumour mill, just wondered if that snippet had any bearing? I won't report back to other colleagues, can't be doing with that, just wondered

Just sounds like someone who thinks that they are deep spouting bollocks to me

@Movingtoplanetclanger yeah exactly what I thought but wondered whether I had missed something !

I'd say that it's someone doing something in an unusual order, so something like school, work, house, baby, marriage, university, career, travelling rather than the usual school, university, travelling, career, house, marriage, baby.

Linear means going in a straight line.
That someone has said life doesn't go in a straight line is not the most profound conclusion I have ever heard.
You seem to think these are two people having an affair?

It's also not really true. Life events can happen in different orders but life starts with birth, goes in one direction as you get older and older till you inevitably die. That's pretty linear.

Nope doesn't make any sense to me. Have turned it over in my head. You could say some aspect of life isn't linear. But life itself very much progresses like Butterymuffin says.

To counter the last two posters though, bodies decay and return to the Earth. New life grows from the Earth so a little less linear.

OP, their marital status seems irrelevant. There’s no reason to think that there was anything other than an over the kettle chat here.

I remember using this term in secondary school when describing a story and saying it didn't follow a linear narrative so that would mean a beginning, a middle and an end in that order.

My interpretation of it is that sometimes life has other ideas and the supposed path is not always the one that happens.
Example of this could be to meet a partner, get married, buy a house, have a baby.

It could be changed by meeting and having a baby before getting married or buying the house etc.

Don't you just hate it when you overhear a juicy conversation and are too thick to understand it?

@DameIfYouDo exactly why I asked. I don't think they are having an affair,
I think they are just friends but there are those who have suggested it might be more. None of my business either way, just hadn't heard that phrase before and wondered what it meant - what others have said would be my guess but wasn't sure.

Life events can happen in different orders but life starts with birth, goes in one direction as you get older and older till you inevitably die.

bodies decay and return to the Earth. New life grows from the Earth so a little less linear.

OP you've got some great lines to join in next time!

Life has its ups and downs, good times and bad times. You find yourself going into another direction than planned. It’s very true.

It sounds like office speak to me. Did the other one ask to take that idea offline/park it elsewhere?

Yes some great lines thanks all. I didn't overhear the convo after