Dinner with friends

Last night I went out for a meal with two girlfriends from school.
We have vaguely kept in touch since we left the institution that was high school six years ago but rarely get the time to meet as we all work crazy shifts and one of the girls travels quite a lot with her job.
As we sat in the beer garden in the fading sunshine sipping our Pepsi's, (one of us driving, one had already been drinking and the other hungover), we began to put the world to rights as only a group of women can do!
One of the points of focus was how far we've come in the years past and how things have changed now that we are officially adults.
One of the girls is engaged and looking to buy a house with her partner, the other has a degree and is making some major career leaps (also happily settled long term) and then there's me...

I am still in education but will be finishing with a diploma not a degree,
There is no room for career advancements until I qualify in a year and a half,
I am happily in a relationship but for six months rather than six years,
There is no speak of engagement or buying houses at this stage.
We are all the same age.

This may sound like I've fallen behind in the race of life but actually I think I may be a few paces ahead!
My logic being this;
I have hauled my ass through so many interviews and stuck at so many jobs, none of them similar, and have now found my ideal vocation.
When I qualify in a year and a half that is a catastrophic achievement because this is not an easy course by any stretch of the imagination.
My boyfriend is amazing. We'd been friends before we were dating and the relationship is natural - we're been together for six months so far.
And who knows what the future will bring...

Are these weaknesses?
Or are they actually strengths?
It's all about perspective  and your perception.

With every cloud there is a silver lining, you just have to find it!