Do you ever feel like everyone does this?

[Dooooooooo]

Apologies this isn't meant to sound like sneering or to cause offense.
However I look around and majority of people seem to be living the same life.
That is, go to uni, graduate, stay with the same company for many years, work your way up into management.
Meet 'the one' and settle down in late 20s/early 30s, marriage a couple of years after meeting, the exact same style of wedding, then the first child, then the second one a year or two after, the house purchase in suburbia, the cat and/or dog, and that's it, life is 'complete'.
I feel like this is how the majority of people I know are living. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I wonder if it is social conditioning, pressure, or biology. You sometimes feel like an outcast for not having 'achieved' all of these things, even if there's really nothing wrong with it.

@Murrain omg hahahaa I am clearly in denial of having an almost 30 year old!!

I went to uni to train as a nurse. I ended up travelling which lead to living in New Zealand, Australia and finally London. I moved home at 40, met the love of my life and had a baby at 42. I’m very glad I have had the experience of travel and living elsewhere before living the conventional life.

Surely all of the things you describe in your OP are the surface details of one’s life. As we change and grow our relationship to these things and ourselves do too. The man I married yeas ago is completely different to the man he is today.

I think in this way it doesn’t matter if it’s what everyone does on paper, it’s your unique experience of these things that matters and how much joy can be experienced because of them.

Kids, marriage, job, uni, house are just things we do along the way but our soul’s journey might take you here there and everywhere.

You may find little doorways into new interests or discover how to be a better friend or traveller or gardener or confidant etc. You may pursue interests and learn new skills, you might learn how to improve honesty and intimacy with your partner in this time.

Life is an internal and external adventure and the things you’ve listed are just a small detail in comparison.

It’s too black and white to look at the kids, job, partner, house thing as though they are unchanging solid things.

At uni for example, I learnt about so much more than just the course content. I resolved my confidence issues around my academic capability.

Having a child who I relate to in so many different ways at each stage teaches me to observe my responses, reflect on my childhood and relationships with my parents.

Taking care of my home and being creative with how it looks and feels and what it means to me is an ever changing and interesting occupation.

My relationship with my husband has unique chapters. Some I’d rather not revisit, some I feel sentimental about and we are always growing, aging, learning together.

Work places are also ever-changing and can reflect areas in which we need to grow (e.g. every workplace has ‘that’ colleague until you learn to have good boundaries).

I wouldn’t get hung up on taking the so called boring route. Life is what you made it.

I'm very much in the minority. Late thirties, single, no kids. Not in a well paid career or a 'career woman'. Most people I know have taken OP's route in life. Does make me feel alone at times to be so different and yes, does make me feel like a loser.

I went out drinking with a bunch of people today. 3 of us grew up 4000+ miles away. 3 of us grew up 8 miles away. We were age 38-71 and all sorts of life experiences.

Just pausing to think... 3 of us went to Uni, 4 didn't. Am thinking about half of our kids will go to Uni, so half won't. I'm not aware that any of us manage anyone at work. And I think I'm the only one who has cats !!