I agree with everyone else, too. No one's life turns out the way they expect, except maybe a lucky few. I was "supposed" to go on to college from high school, was "supposed" to get a good job, find a nice husband, and have a "nice" life, for as long as I was able to with my heart condition. Instead, I had a nervous breakdown at 17, was diagnosed then but no one told me, messed up my life with drugs and alcohol, became a single mom along the way, and wondered what the hell was wrong with me the whole time. When I finally got dx'd at 31, it was like an epiphany. I asked my father about when he took me to the psychologist, and he said manic depression was mentioned. I was angry for a while, thinking of all that wasted time, and how differently my life could've turned out if he had only said something all those years before. Now, even he says to me,"Your life just hasn't turned out the way you wanted at all, has it?" No, but I make the best of it. And the bipolar, that curse, is finally being treated, so to me, that's enough.