So, I did it.

Everything you’re supposed to.

So, what now?

As a little girl, I imagined growing up with my Prince Charming and getting married, and that was about it. It turns out real life isn’t quite like that.

I went to school all the way through to Sixth Form and then decided I needed a break. So, I saved up enough to take a gap year and travel solo for five months.

After that, I still hadn’t met anyone, and I felt lost with what to do, so I went back into education and got into university for a three-year course in creative writing.

I met a few people who I thought I could end up with. I went on a couple of dates, and it wasn’t until I had given up completely that I found him.

He is not perfect; he has his faults. We both do, and we started our relationship during COVID. After three years, he finished and moved home, but I decided to stay on and complete my Master’s.

We have been doing long-distance, and it’s been working out really well. We visit each other as often as we can and enjoy our own time as well.

Over the summer, I completed my Master’s and moved back home with my parents. My boyfriend’s a three-hour train ride away, and I don’t know what to do now.

I have a job at a pub and restaurant and said I would stay there until Christmas, but now that I’m done with education, I feel a bit lost with what to do next.

I have followed what society expects me to do, sticking to education, and at age 23, I’m at a loss.

I moved back home with my parents.

I’m not in my own place with my boyfriend. We’re doing long distance.

And I don’t know what to do.

Do I stay on and get a PhD?

Do I become a lecturer?

Do I work in an office for the rest of my life?

Do I get married and have kids, and is that my life?

Then I realized it’s okay not to have a plan. It’s okay to take time and figure things out. I can try things out, see what I think, travel, and move around; it doesn’t need to be figured out right now.

We have time.

Adulting is hard.

Take a minute. Breathe.

You got this.

Life may not be the fairytale that you expected, but you can make it one.

This was written by our contributing writer, Shanai Besst.