Los caminos de la vida

[aleCcowaN]

I was remembering these lyrics:

«Los caminos de la vida
no son como yo pensaba,
como los imaginaba,
no son como yo creía.
....»

and wondered how to say "los caminos de la vida" in English. It means "the way life actually unfolds; what the future shows when it ceases holding; and within it, the way we feel and experience life and ourselves at different stages"

This "los caminos de la vida" is the colloquial way to approximately say "el decurso de la vida". I'm looking for a equally colloquial way to say it.

Some other expressions from this family:

what the future holds = (qué/lo que) nos depara el futuro [sounds formal, but it's a common collocation]
a trick of fate = una sorpresa del destino
a change of fate = un giro del destino

[poli]

The meaning is slightly different because it's slightly less stoic, but a very common term is the paths we choose (in life).

[aleCcowaN]

But that can't match the rest of the lyrics.

Los caminos de la vida relates to living and life itself and how one thing leads to another, but not with our choices beyond those you have to make as a part of life.

[poli]

I think it does, Alec. The paths we choose may take us to unexpected destinations, now that I think of it, there is a closer term: the highway of life.

[aleCcowaN]

Yes, that's more like it, when it's not used to mention surpassing others or to talk of roadblocks in it (there's always that competitive, unkind, anti-philosophical edge).

[poli]

Here's a song about the highway of life:https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=we%27re+two+lost+souls+on+the+highway+of+ life&view=detail&mid=FD426DA2C7821D2377F4FD426DA2C7821D2377F4&FORM=VIRE

[aleCcowaN]

Thanks for the song. I found "the highway of life" to overlap with uses of "los caminos de la vida". In other occasions they differ. But I'm now convinced it would be the best translation for most cases.

The highway of life
Wasn't the way I thought,
The way I dreamt it,
The way I believe it to be
...

Does that make sense?

[Rusty]

The highway of life
Wasn't the way I thought,
The way I dreamt it,
The way I believed it to be.
...

Does that make sense?Yes, with the corrections, it makes sense.

[aleCcowaN]

Thanks, Rusty.

I should've used pictured instead of dreamt.

[Rusty]

Agreed.