Being unemployed has some upside, it allows me some time to contemplate things in the past, present, and future, and the opportunity to evaluate everything around me.

As I sit here in Starbucks, on my own with my Oprah magazine (I know that admitting that I read such a publication by the female incarnate of satan will make you all cringe - but it makes me feel that little closer to home), I notice a woman at a table nearby reading a magazine, and on her own as well.

She is much older than me, well dressed, pretty even. I wonder if, like me, she feels lonely in this shopping centre full of people. Is she single? kids? Does she have a career that is fulfilling?

I wonder if I am staring at my future. She looks content, so maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

As a child, we are taught that you must get married, have kids, buy a house, drive 2 cars and all of that - but are those things really that important?

I have come to the realisation that no, they are not, and life is too short to adhere to some bullshit that society dictates.

I am happy being single, being independent, and having my own opinions, and I will be damned if I am ever repressed by anyone again.

If society doesn’t like it, tough.