Expectations

Being back home and interacting with certain people (mainly family members) has brought all sorts of thoughts and feelings to the surface for me - most of them uncomfortable. One thing that has stood out a lot is expectation. There is plenty of it when it comes to family. I believe it has it's place. It almost has to, even if ideally it shouldn't. For example, one of my cousin's got married and I haven't met his wife so far. I'm not close to that cousin, I haven't seen him in years and we live in different countries. But his wife happens to be here in the UK so it was my duty to go and visit her. There was an expectation that I should. That's fine.
But talking to her, I noticed that all of her questions were concerning my work and education, when I was considering moving back home, was I intending to do a masters etc. I'm sure if I had been there longer than an hour the conversation would have turned to marriage. We had only just met. My questions were concerning how she found it being in a foreign country, did she miss home etc. Her's were all the big life questions. The important stuff as far as my culture goes.
I'm some what of an anomaly in my family. In most families probably. But it got me thinking about expectations. And how I've pretty much defied all the ones that were placed upon me. But the big two hover somewhere over my head, flying lower and lower all the time. Will I get a 'proper' job/career? And will I get married and have children? The clock seems to be ticking loud as far as everyone else is concerned. Which is starting to make me become more aware of it. Is that a good thing? Was I just floating along in my New York bubble ignoring the larger issues in life? Or was I actually living my life the way I want to live it. I think I can be easily swayed at times. Not to the point where I'll act on someone else's feelings or suggestions, but enough that it will sow a seed of doubt into my head and make me question everything. With many points of view currently flying in my direction (most that conflict with mine) I have to remain aware. I have to sift through that information and other people's expectations to work out and define what I truly expect from myself and from my life.