From the moment we were born most of us were taught the American dream.

Get married, buy a house with a white picket fence and have two point five kids.

We were taught that to do this is to have a happy future. Once we get the house and the wife and the kids, everything we went through to get there will be completely worth it.

We aren’t taught that this dream is largely unrealistic, especially now.

The world has changed since our parents taught us about the American dream.  House prices have gone through the roof, people are getting married later or not at all and the amount of people having kids has fallen considerably.

We live in a world where someone can work two jobs and still not afford to make rent, let alone own a house and support a family. Clearly, the world our parents knew and told us about does not exist anymore.  This “American dream” has become more of a fantasy, something we may hope for but know we likely won’t have.

A lot of people find that depressing.  I find it enlightening.

Who says that not following in our parents’ footsteps is a bad thing?  We grew up seeing marriages fail more often than they succeed, buying a house leads to repairs and high mortgages and having kids is a lot of stress that isn’t always worth it.  We see our parent’s way wasn’t always the best way and the American dream can quickly turn into the American nightmare.

So why should we try to achieve it?

We have the chance to make our own dreams, to forge our own way.  Our world is different than what our parents’ was.  So why are we trying to follow the same path?

Maybe it is time for us to finally give up on the American dream.