Is the Key to Happiness Simply Living Life on Your Own Terms and Pace?

I've been reflecting a lot about life and what brings happiness. For context, I wouldn’t say I have any true passions but dabble in different activities. I've mostly been focused on school and chasing money. Looking back, I realize I didn’t really have those traditional "best years of our lives" the high school and college experience that people always talk about. I sometimes wonder if I’ve wasted the "best years" of my life.

Talking to other friends, they tell me that honestly, a lot of the stuff they did wasn’t all that fun or worth it. I can’t decide if they’re saying this just to help me cope or if it’s the truth. I try to do some of the things I think I missed out on, but then I always end up feeling like it’s never really as great as it’s hyped up to be.

This got me thinking: there’s so much pressure to follow a certain timeline, behave a certain way, and check things off a list. We’re constantly told there’s a “right way” to live, but that often feels disconnected from reality. Everything is so inflated success, happiness, even personal milestones. But when it comes down to it, they never seem to match the hype.

The more I reflect on this, the more I wonder if we’re all just living based on expectations from others or society. It feels like we’re all copying someone else’s version of success or happiness like we’re just copies of a copy of a copy.

I’m starting to think there aren’t any real, hardcore rules for how we should live our lives. So, what if the true key to happiness is simply living life at your own pace, without the overwhelming pressure to fit in or meet those external milestones? What do you all think?