My Life in 5 Years Time
A little while ago I read a post written on Meanderings which was a description of what she wanted her life to look like in 5 years time. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided I’d like to write one of these for myself.
Well, almost a month has past and I haven’t done it. Wanna know why? Cos I. Don’t. Know. 
I have no idea what I would like my life to look like in 5 years time.
As a child I had 1 goal in life. Actually, you could probably say I had 2 goals but they’re very closely related.
1. Get married
2. Have kids
I did sort of think I’d like to be a teacher. That never happened and while I *could* make it happen now, I just don’t have the inclination to.
So to consider what’s next is kind of a foreign concept to me and I’m struggling to come up with any kind of goals as such.
Let’s start with what our family life might look like. I’ll be fast approaching 40 (but with a couple of years still up my sleeve). Leighton will be 15 (EEEEK!!!), Singstar Princess will be 12 and The Bomb (must think up another name for him I think) will be 9.
By then I guess our “big trip” will be not much more than a distant memory but will HOPEFULLY at least be paid for. 
The trip has been a large part of our focus for a few years now.
We are keeping an open mind about private schooling for our Leighton (and the others but he comes first). The very thought makes my heart ache but IF it’s something he wants and IF we feel it would benefit him and IF we can afford it, we will consider it as an option (it would mean him living away from home - assuming we’re still farming).
I would like to contribute in some way to our family finances. I’m not sure how exactly. I’ve always thought I’d be a stay at home, non income earning, mother for the duration of my kids youth. Now I’m not really sure what I want.
This morning I came across an interesting you tube clip on My Little Drummer Boys that made me think (and made me tear up a bit).
I’ve tried to embed the you tube video here for you but it’s messing up my site so either visit My Little Drummer Boys to view it or you can find it on you tube here. There are also some other clips by the same guy listed on that you tube page.
It’s certainly given me food for thought. I remember at the lowest point of my nervous breakdown I actually thought I was going insane and would end up in an institution for the rest of my life. The grief of feeling that your life is coming to an end is quite intense.
In some ways this has given me what feels like a second chance in life but I’m still not sure what I want to BE or DO.
I know I like helping people. I know I like making people smile. Beyond that…. I’m really not sure.
How about you? Do you feel your dreams and goals for the future are clear in your mind? Are you a planner? Or are you like me and feel like you’re kind of drifting in the wind, uncertain as to which direction you’d like to go next?
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I seem to have a talent - or maybe I’m subconsciously very focused - on getting where I want to go regardless of spending most of the time ‘floating on the breeze’…
As a kid I wanted to be a writer… then I grew up, went into computer science, ditched that, became a receptionist, finished up the IT ‘manager’, became a programmer, then turned without quite realising what I was doing into writing manuals. Now I write manuals to bring in money and write OKish fiction while training myself to be a GOOD writer.
Ever thought about taking that inclination for teaching into less formal channels? Tutoring underprivileged kids, writing articles on gardening, etc?
I want to get through the next 5 years without killing or maiming anyone or getting sick or hurting myself.
Thanks Naomi - great thoughts there. Kind of “think outside the square”. I guess I feel I’ve already done a fair amount of teaching as I’ve spent some years working with 0-5s and also students with special needs. I might not be standing out the front of a classroom but I certainly did a lot of teaching. Plus of course motherhood includes a lot of teaching. I think some day I’d like to do some parenting type courses - as in teaching parenting skills. Will wait and see if my kids survive my parenting styles first. LOL.
Marita - brilliant goals there!!!!
Randy enlightened me to a few selfish things I have been doing -life is so precious.
and yes … I am a bit like you uncertain but certain I always want to be there for my kids and not too busy working.
Beautiful ? post I hope you achieve all that you want in ‘His’ time
My Little Drummer boys
Five years is such a scary thought for me. Pink will be 20 going on 21!!!! Good grief. Robbie will be almost 18. I will be….ok lets not talk about that. Lets just say I won’t be on the right side of 40 any more!
Fisherman and I have often talked about taking a trip on the bike (he has a road bike) along the Great Ocean Road. So that is something we could aim for, although we might both be a bit old and crotchety for that by then!
I will probably still be here at work blogging when I should be working. Hopefully Miss Pink will have made a decision with what to do with her life because I’m thinking with her the initial decision is the hard part, the doing isn’t such an issue once her mind is made up. Hopefully Robbie will be doing one of the two things he loves and they are being on the ocean or under a car bonnet.
Most of all I hope that my kids are both happy, and healthy.
Babyamore - life IS precious but sometimes we do need to be a tiny bit selfish for our own survival.
Sharon - 20!!!! Yes, that is kind of scary. Why do kids have to grow up????
Oh I’m definitely drifting in the wind. I’ve never known what I want to do, although I do like to play around with house plans so maybe an architect but I’m too lazy to make it happen, I prefer to have things just happen without any effort from me. Since the world doesn’t work that way, here I am still drifting.
When I was little, around 10 or so I wanted to be rich and have the biggest bedroom ever that I DIDN’T have to share with my sister. I still want a large bedroom, but I’ve moved on from wanting to be rich. Nowadays I’m wishing for obscene wealth. Dreams are still free, right?
I have always drifted. Until now. I had a dream for a long time and now I have made it a reality. You know what it is
- anyway I will still be working towards it in 5 years time (Ugh, trying not to think about that part of it) but I finally feel like I am doing what I want to do.
And I used to wonder, when I was drifting, if maybe I was looking to hard for “it”. Maybe stop looking and let “it” come to you - kind of like how you “fell” into blogging. I hope that makes sense
Now to be far too logical, remember that goals have to be specific, measurable and attainable. So no use setting a goal that you want to travel to the moon in 12 months time for instance. But you do need to put a time frame on them too. Maybe start with smaller goals, like the next 6 months, and then see if you can build on or expand them. That might take you somewhere interesting as far as goal setting.
Hi Jodi,
I’m reminded of your post about seasons / cyles in life… I think with the amount that has happened in your life in the past couple of years, it’s not unreasonable that this time is a time for recovery and enjoying the present, rather than planning the future. That’s not to say you shouldn’t think about / dream about your future, but more that there is no need to be impatient with how long it takes for your dreams to become clear.
Emma.
p.s. Your blog ‘problem’ must be catching, I’m working on another one…
Gosh…where to be in 5 years time? Hmmm…have my student loans paid of? Gone to France to visit Monet’s Gardens? I’m just happy to be working again, and in my field, in a job I was trained to do.
I remember being a teenager and dreaming that by the time I got the age I am now I would be married, 2.5 kids, the large house with the white picket fence and of course the fabulous job with great pay.
Obviously that’s not how things worked out, I mean I didn’t even learn to drive til I reached my mid-20s…too busy doing other things. And I think that’s a good thing. I was busy doing other things that were, in retrospect, way more important to me than the notion of settling down. I’ve traveled on my own and had some amazing experiences along the way, and I suspect that’s something I wouldn’t have had, had I taken x-route.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with just floating around so long as the basics are covered, i.e. food, shelter, clothing and some money set aside for emergencies. Wasn’t it Lennon who said life is what happens when you’re busy making plans?
Although drifting can sound fun - life can pass you by. Sometimes the best thing about setting a goal is realizing that you didn’t want to actually do the thing that you set as a goal. But by then you’ve learned a bit more about yourself and what you want and probably have a few other things that you think might be worth having a go at.
River - aren’t we funny the things we want as we’re growing up. I always wanted a sister to share my room with!!!!
I had 3 brothers. Actually that’s probably HAVE not HAD as they’re still alive (I’m pretty sure they didn’t QUITE kill each other growing up).
Gemisht - you’re doing really well with chasing your dreams.
Maggie - that’s true. I think we do need to find a balance between actively chasing our dreams and “going with the flow” a bit.
Stuffy - It was interesting. I went ahead and watched this guys full lecture on youtube and one of the things he talks about is how brick walls are put in our way to find out how badly we really want something. He also talks about how sometimes the process of reaching for our dreams can be more beneficial than actually getting there. You recognise the value in the process even if the dream never quite got fulfilled.
He also talks about how sometimes the process of reaching for our dreams can be more beneficial than actually getting there.
Here’s an interesting one for you - a number of years ago I started a TAFE course on Community Services (youth work, etc). I didn’t finish it due to health problems and desperately needing money. I didn’t learn much - I thought - because I’d already done counselling courses, etc.
Now my husband’s doing a similar course at the exact same TAFE, and I’ve already done the assignments, dealt with the teachers, know the tricks, etc. So maybe I was doing it more for hubby’s sake than mine
This is such a great post and I love the comments. Where do I want to be in five years time? I am contented with life at the moment and I think that I really don’t want to change much. I have watched my three oldest children grow into their thirties and to find happiness either in their partner choices or in what they do. No their lives are not prefect but they have the education and means to fix these if they have the motivation. I have another one in her final year of school and her decisions are ahead of her, I would love to be around to be a support and to give help if needed. I would really love to do something with art but that is more a personal goal rather than a work goal. I think that I am just happy to float or drift, I never have been very good had making huge plans.