Is this what you imagined?

lawred2 · 15-10-2015 04:17PM

OldNotWIse wrote: »

We all dream of what we will be "when we grow up" . I found a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before I was 23...because when I was 12, that seemed like a decent enough age. I was to be married at 21, have my first child at 22. I was also going to be a doctor, have my own house, have a house built onto the side of mine for my parents (how insulting to my still able bodied folks!). I was also going to set up an animal sanctuary by the time I was 30, funded no doubt from my doctor's salary and the riches of the man I married when I was 21

Suffice to say that aside from a non-funded near sanctuary of 11 cats, the rest has....well, gone to the dogs.

Anyone else deviate from their plans or like me, spectacularly abandon them?

Is your life anything like you imagined?

you had goals @ 12 :eek:

My only thoughts at that age were about sport

lawred2 · 15-10-2015 04:18PM

oh wait I wanted to be an airline pilot

OldNotWIse · 15-10-2015 04:27PM

Deleted User wrote: »

It's possible that wouldn't work.
It is very painful to long for a child and be unable to conceive one or to feel the reality of it moving further and further away. 49 is a bit of a crazy age alright to be having babies but for a woman or a man who felt it would never happen I imagine the joy experienced is immense.

Indeed. I know of someone who went through years of IVF and was eventually told to stop because there was no point. At 46, she fell pregnant naturally and had a beautiful little child. When I see this woman (I don't know her husband), I can actually feel the happiness burning off her. She is a totally different person and looks about a decade younger!

OldNotWIse · 15-10-2015 04:27PM

AnonoBoy wrote: »

You f*ckers all had PLANS????

God damn it. That's probably where I went wrong.

Have yet to make one of those for my life.

Judging by the contents of this thread, I'd say there's no point :P

Toto Wolfcastle · 15-10-2015 04:29PM

When I was a kid I thought I'd be driving around in my open-top car when I was 16 like they did in Sweet Valley High. :pac:

I always wanted to get married in my mid-twenties (who knows why) and have kids. I'm close to 30 now and the marriage bit worked out well, but it would be a miracle if the kids thing worked out.

Overall I always hoped that I'd be happy when I grew up, and while I don't yet see myself as a grown up, I can say with absolute certainty that I'm happy.

LDN_Irish · 15-10-2015 04:37PM

Witchie wrote: »

Dover beach, not far from Rockley! Arrived on the Saturday, had to go to Bridgetown to get the licence on the Monday and on Tuesday afternoon, having spent the day lounging around the pool we decided that we should probably go clean ourselves up a bit for our wedding on the beach in front of our hotel. He showered and dressed and went down to wait for me, I showered, did my own hair, no make up, photographer came up to room took a few pics and I strolled down to join him. The woman who worked in the hotel and had organised the photographer, cake and flowers was one witness and an Irish guy hanging out at the beachside bar and was on his honeymoon was the other. So relaxed.

We went for a gorgeous meal in a restaurant called "Secrets" that was set on a beach with the patio where we dined out on stalks on the water.

Collected our marriage cert on the Friday and continued to enjoy another week in paradise before coming home to a surprise party my family had organised.

Would do it very similarly again if could find some poor fecker to put up with me.

Perfect! And yeah I know Dover, good little spot! I had a few rum and cokes and "chilled" with some of the heads down there. I didn't realise how much I'd love to get back there until reading your posts

15-10-2015 04:49PM

I wanted to be a writer, that's about it
Then i discovered maths

Witchie · 15-10-2015 04:52PM

LDN_Irish wrote: »

Perfect! And yeah I know Dover, good little spot! I had a few rum and cokes and "chilled" with some of the heads down there. I didn't realise how much I'd love to get back there until reading your posts

When were you there? Was there a guy with dreads (stupid question I suppose!), a total surfer dude who shares spliff with everyone, possibly wearing an Ireland t-shirt from USA 94?

lyinghere · 15-10-2015 04:53PM

I remember at about primary school level I wanted to do something that would make me well known. I knew I was no pop star or footballer so I think journalist and politician were the viable options !

I also remember I used to love building houses with sand and telling my granny I was going to be a builder - she told me that I should do something more academic.

I do remember having visions of having a very traditional life when I grew up. That vision was a good job, a nice house down the country, a lovely wife, and a few kids. It was all to be very normal. I was to be a good family guy !

The realities are fairly different. I came out as gay about two years ago so pretty sure the traditional family life is off the cards for me. As much as people say it's not a big deal it is a game changer in life plans reallty and in my youth I had suspected I might be gay but I was still going to motor on and find a lovely wife anyways. I do now aspire to find a lovely husband and think that's a nice prospect so I guess that dream is still there .

I have travelled a lot more than I had ever thought about. Australia, Argentina, Fiji, New Zealand, Thailand , Brazil, Vietnam, Italy in recent times . Its never something I considered but it's great to see the world.

I have a good job. So I got that prediction right. although it will never make me famous !

I'm more of a piss head at weekends than I anticipated. Lately I seem to find myself in ridiculous situations that someone who aspired for a very traditional life should not really end up in. Younger me would have seen me married by now with kids instead.

Really interesting thread. Really makes me want to set a few long term goals now.I tend to drift through life that said I'm content and happy enough and its my life and I excited to see how the rest goes.

Rubberlegs · 15-10-2015 05:32PM

I can't remember having any big dreams as such. I went through a phase of wanting to be a Garda , or work in a funeral home. Neither of which I did! I never had dreams for a big wedding, that's one thing that will never change. My first child came well before I thought one would, no one to blame but myself, but all worked out !

Azalea · 15-10-2015 09:40PM

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Younger me would definitely be disappointed, but then again do we have higher standards when we are not aware of our own limitations?

Most definitely. And it's great to dream - I'd never want that to be taken away from any child, but I think it's no harm to remind people as they enter adulthood that it's worth having a plan B also, just in case.

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" - good advice, which I really should have heeded. :pac:

deseil · 15-10-2015 09:56PM

I always wanted to be a detective, nurse counselor something to do with people.

At 17 i fell in love with a bad boy tatooed biker and went a bit wild had a baby quiet young and was quickly brought back down to earth. I worked/studied hard (the bad boy didnt work out) and got a good stable but boring office job to provide for my kid.
And then through some great luck and good fortune have been recently gifted the job of my dreams working with people while still retaining the stability and salary of my office job. I think the 13 year old me would like where im at

Son Of A Vidic · 15-10-2015 09:56PM

I have no plans for next year and I have no plans for five years down the road. Life is just way too short for plans and I always try to enjoy what I have right now. I've seen way too much death and dying in my profession and lives changed in an instant, to feel otherwise tbh. Of course it's fine to have a sense of direction and of what you want to do or be, but timelines should be avoided. The only thing we should all plan for is to be happy, or just to be happier. So whatever that is then I would suggest you just go for it. Plan for that and I think most of us won't go far wrong.

osarusan · 15-10-2015 09:58PM

For the most part, absolutely no.

The chance decision to move to Japan has meant my life and career is utterly different from any of the versions I'd imagined/plans I'd had.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 15-10-2015 10:03PM

I wanted to live up a mountain in a tent and/or treehouse, never wear trousers and be able to talk to animals and do spells. Kind of halway between Bridget Cleary and one of the more nature-attuned Disney princesses.

Hasn't worked out like that, though there's been the odd weekend here and there that hasn't been madly far off from it, in a way.

Azalea · 15-10-2015 10:23PM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Don't want to hit 30 and still have regrets.

I'd say there are precious few people who have hit 30 that don't. It's nowhere near as old and the age to have everything all sorted as you appear to think it is.

Regrets are part of life - they ARE life. It's a journey (not a destination, man) and the mistakes you make and lessons you learn from them are what shape you. Once one accepts and embraces that, life becomes a lot easier (in my opinion). People can be very hard on themselves.

People make mistakes and learn lessons until old age. Of course lots of us (probably most) would love to have it all neatly packaged by a certain point, but life doesn't work that way. Live for today/the immediate future. What's passed is dead - and we bury the dead.

15-10-2015 10:53PM

I never had a vision of where I wanted to be in life, or what I wanted to do. I don't think it ever actually dawned on me that I'd be a grown up one day; I'm almost 26 and it hasn't fully sunk in.

But I definitely never had a lifelong dream or ambition that I had to achieve at any cost.

If I ever did picture something, it certainly would have been much much better than this though. I probably thought I'd be doing something really skilled or complicated for a living, being well respected and earning a ridiculous amount of money. I thought I'd breeze through university, making loads of lifelong friends and passing everything with first class honours. I never imagined third level education would, in reality, be such a difficult and regretful experience for me. I can't imagine I ever thought I'd grow up to be so disappointed (even hateful at times) with myself, or that I'd constantly feel inadequate. But at least I'm not dead yet, I have a family that doesn't hate me and I have a job that pays me enough to get by. So things could indeed be a whole lot worse, I suppose. *shrug*

Lucyfur · 15-10-2015 11:27PM

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

When I was four years old I was really into Thomas The Tank Engine, and when my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, apparently I told them "a train track". Not a train driver, or even a train mind. The track.

Now naturally I never lived up to those lofty goals, but I can't say I'm disappointed.

Heh. My son went through a phase of wanting to be a speed bump!

And after that, he wanted to be a hammer head shark

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 15-10-2015 11:51PM

We were actually talking in the pub recently about what we'd wanted to be when we grew up, one of my friends said that 'first I wanted to be The Little Mermaid, and after that I wanted to be Destiny's Child'. She didn't really understand why we were asking her 'what, all of them?', she wanted to be more the concept of Destiny's Child as a unified whole, they were big enough in her childhood mental universe to be a thing that you'd want to be :pac:

lanos · 16-10-2015 12:05AM

Acted the bollix 18-30
met OH at 31
House at 33
1st kid 3 weeks later
2nd Kid at 36
University at 36
Proper career at 40
45 - career going well but OH and i want kid #3
that last bit is not working out as expected

Satts · 16-10-2015 12:44AM

As a child I wanted to be the guy who filled coal in to the sacks, I still do sometimes.

Greentopia · 16-10-2015 12:51AM

All I knew when I was a child is that I never wanted to get married or have kids. I loved nature, books, art and music. I had no concept of anything I'd want to be when I grew up. I knew I didn't want to do something just for money though.

I'm still unmarried and childless in my forties now and happy with that choice.

I worked in an art gallery for a few years and now study horticulture as a mature student and full of optimism and excitement for where that will take me. So even though I've never remotely had any desire for a career I've ended up staying true to what my interests were as a child.

LDN_Irish · 16-10-2015 08:13AM

Witchie wrote: »

When were you there? Was there a guy with dreads (stupid question I suppose!), a total surfer dude who shares spliff with everyone, possibly wearing an Ireland t-shirt from USA 94?

Once in 2008 and once in 2012, both for Crop Over. Didn't go to Dover much the first time. I don't remember any Ireland 94 shirts but I remember a white rasta with dreads from the English West Country named after a famous revolutionary, a shortish Bajan called Barry and a fella with a disability that made him scream at people (not tourettes) which scared the absolute **** out of me after smoking too much and starting to stroll back to Rockley in the small hours.

Menas · 16-10-2015 08:36AM

I think I spent too much of my youth listening to The Smiths and always imagined myself living in an attic room, alone, miserable and writing bad poetry that no one would ever read.
But life turned out to be a lot nicer than that!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 16-10-2015 08:43AM

I wanted to be a nurse. All well and good, but think I discovered along the way that the mere sight of a bit of blood would have me panned out.
I can't really remember if I wanted to get married, have kids etc but I wanted a Rottweiler and a Doberman, I have neither.
I was a bit of a tomboy in primary school, and that's done a complete 180 on me.

I was the same height though, as I am now. That's kind of depressing.

Sunnyisland · 16-10-2015 08:48AM

I don't remember what I wanted to be to be honest,if I can recollect it was happy life, nice house,and always wanted to live in the sun, I had all above at different stages of my life but even now not all together, I have two of the above now,happy life and living in the sun.
Life is indeed strange.

lawred2 · 16-10-2015 09:34AM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Never knew what I wanted to as a child and teen, completed a bullsh1t Arts degree after school and then further education which led me into working in family business.

Not really happy though and would consider switching careers entirely. Don't want to hit 30 and still have regrets.

yeah because 30 is like SOOOOOOOO OLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDDD

16-10-2015 01:00PM

bluewolf wrote: »

I wanted to be a writer, that's about it
Then i discovered maths

A little of both for ya:

http://i.imgur.com/NRrtJ4H.jpg

Don't say I don't ever give you anything.

asherbassad · 16-10-2015 04:18PM

I'm exactly where I had imagined I'd be. Still painfully handsome but cynical, sighing at attention of attractive but dimwitted females I can still command and gazing back between sips of wine at a lifetime of squandered opportunities.

ElleEm · 16-10-2015 04:34PM

Candie wrote: »

I wanted to have an orphanage filled with adorable babies to play with.

I'm the same. I also wanted to be a surrogate for anyone who wanted babies! Babies and parents for everyone!
I have worked with kids and teenagers in care/ aftercare for about ten years now so I am not a million miles away from my childhood dreams. I hoped to have my first kid by about 28 but life got in the way. I am getting married next year so hopefully the babies will follow. I have never been happier than I am now though, so things happened as they should have.

Is this what you imagined?

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