Dreams vs Reality
 

What did you dream of doing with your life while you were still in school? How has reality measured up?

When I was younger, I wanted to be a stay at home mom and author. Now? Yeah, not happening.

I never really had any dreams. Sad.

Likewise.

I admire people who did, and accomplished them. I was always just sort of, "meh".

That's good and bad. For one, I've never accomplished anything very impressive, but I've also never been unsatisfied with how life's turned out for me.

I make decent money... got my boys. Hell, things are alright. Certainly could be a hell of a lot worse.

Everything happens for a reason. I went through a time when I was really disappointed when I realized life was not going to go according to what I had planned. It took me until not too long ago to let loose of the reins a little, just go wherever life is bound to take me, and be content with it.

This.

I don't recall any of my real dreams. Dreamt about finding a good woman to be with, accomplished that one. Dreamt about getting off the farm and making good money. Got off the farm and am making meh money.

Shit's aight.

Get a Degree....Check
Get something out of your degree........unchecked

I wanted to be a Doctor or a Meteorologist. Now, I'm just an unemployed Machinist studying Information Technology.

I think this is what being a Jehovah's Witness does to you. Denies you dreams. You're taught that the world has nothing to offer you and it all needs to ****ing die so Jehovah can remake it.

Well **** that.

My dream, Ms. luv, was to be an International Playboy. I was handicapped, however, by the fact that my family was poor and we had no jet. Plus, in my home town, the girls were, for the most part ... uh ... cosmetically challenged - not the best place to begin a career as an International Playboy.

I still hope that, one day, I shall achieve my dream. Or, perhaps, I shall be reincarnated as one of those bad boys. In the meantime, I sometimes speak in various and mysterious dialects to the beautiful and witty Mrs. FAX whilst engaged in the "encounter amore" which, in some small way, seems to help suppress any residual feelings of regret.

FAX

First person to come in bragging about how they're living their dream gets a blanket party, deal?

I've got money on Dane. :D

The beautiful and witty Mrs. FAX is, indeed, blessed.

thats why I stopped giving you shit. I've been around many former jehovah's and all of them are messed up in the head.

Dreamed of being a paramedic, after watching the old Squad 51 TV series... Went to school and did that for 13+ years, then got hurt/burnt out. Wandered from job to job and landed a great management position I have now in the Hotel industry. So there's no telling were we will end up. Very happy doing this, but always willing to try another new job if I need to.

As for personal life, wanted to be married happily ever after.... 2 divorces later...fuck it!!! got my kids, and very happy being were I'm at.

Sounds like you've felt the cold hand of outsourcing personally.

I'm not even going to bring up personal life.

I'm doing alright for myself!

Sure... my first career choice (moving up within the JW's) didn't work out seeing as I left and am now shunned by everyone I knew my entire life growing up, and my second one (Army) I was able to do for 2 years before being medically discharged.

Went loony for a bit.

Got my shit together and now I have a job I love, a good woman by my side, and a purpose in life.

Life is the best right now for me than it has ever been.

Still can't build a dog ramp for shit.

:D

asshole

LMAO

:LOL:

Dreams of being a pilot.


today?.....not even close.
:grr::D


Oh well; that's why this is "Dreams vs. Reality"

I'm in 'realtiy' at this point.

Well, it's good to know that I'm not alone in knowing that my reality isn't what I thought it would be. Whether it's good or bad has yet to be determined, but I can't tell you how good it feels to get over the helpless feeling of not having full control. I'll control what I can, and just roll with the punches. I'm even learning to punch back sometimes. :D

I haven't given up on my dreams. But I better hurry up, lucidity is growing in shorter supply every single day.

You know, I'm getting kinda sick of this whiny-ass crap.

If your "reality" isn't what you wish it to be, how about making a change in your life? Huh? Ever think about that? Mr. Bob Dole just started a thread about how he lost a 31 year old friend in an accident. That could be any one of us at any time. My most sincere and heartfelt advice is to stop whining about what "might have been" and, if you aren't happy, make a bold change and start upon a new path. Crap on a Triscuit, what's the worst that could happen? You live outside your safety zone for awhile? God almighty.

FAX THE CRANKY

Yep.

We're going through some financial issues etc due to massive reduction in income etc; but doing what we can - and won't be bullied by creditors etc. had a conversation tonight that went something like "I've paid you what i can each week for 8 weeks; if that's not good enough, let me know. I'll keep the money. I could use it"

F em. :mad::D

:spock: Who's being whiny?

You sure you're reading the same thread I am?

Fax The Empowered!

viva la FAX!!!

I would love to take that advice. However, I've got a little debt to dig my way out from under. Couple of years, and who knows? Maybe I can go back to school. Maybe I'll be married. Maybe I'll be forced to live outside of my comfort zone. We can have the best of intentions, but, even controlling what we can, we never know what the future has in store for us.

The point of the thread wasn't to whine. It was simply to compare your reality with what you thought it would be. Or maybe I'm whining and should just shut up....lol.

I'm just practicing for when somebody does say something whiny, Mr. KcMizzou. Being prepared, you know?

FAX

Heh, gotcha.

When I was in school, I thought that doing just about anything would be better than being in school, and I'm yet to be proven wrong.

life was awesome last year; plenty of $, no worries; loved my job etc. then WHAM.

Layoff; Friday morning at 0900 in October. Out of the blue (....if anything else comes from the 'blue'...the 'blue' can keep it).
No severance etc. 6 months no job; no bites (from a job....not of the 'love bite' variety) finally scored a job but at 48% less income. eeek.
No playing catch up.... grrr.

Oh well. Everything happens for a reason; ours was a wakeup call to appreciate the little things, each other, and life itself. But, it's still tough during the trasition.

Here's another thing ...

As many of you have, I have traveled to countries where many peeps don't even have enough to eat. Seriously ... to friggin' eat. Some live in conditions that we, in the US of A, would consider utterly appalling. Zero sanitation. Bad water. Crummy healthcare (if any at all). The list goes on and on.

We are spoiled rotten here. Those peeps "dream" of things like food or clothing or a friggin' aspirin. Count your blessings, guys.

FAX

Is FAX still whining about people whining?

Yeah. I definitely didn't take economic factors into consideration when I was 10.

It's good that you have the support of family. If you can make it through this, everything else should be a breeze!

Yes, and now you're whining about FAX whining about people whining.

I can afford beer whenever I want it, I can watch the royals when they are on tv, I never really wanted anything but those two

Damn straight, I am, Mr. Skip Towne. I've had it up to here with whiny-ass peeps who are dissatisfied with their existence, yet do nothing to change it.

I can't wait for some of those peeps to show up.

FAX

I get what your saying with all that. Take chances and risks, etc.

Butt if i poop on a triscuit i don't think i could find the triscuit, you know what i mean?

Only if you mean a triscuit like a cracker triscuit. If you mean a triscuit like something else then i don't know what that is.

When I was a kid I wanted to own a car wash. Not a car wash where somebody else washes it for you, or a tunnel you roll down and your car gets washed, but a stall car wash with marble stalls and gold sprayers and a circle lot for everyone to pull their cars around and wipe them down. No mini vans, 4 doors, or mud caked vehicles allowed. Now I just work for the man. I still want a car wash, but with an indoor driving range over the river combo.

Free porn. And then came the intarnets...

This. Keep breaking those chains, brah! :clap:

Man, I am really dissatisfied with my existence, but I'll be damned if I'm going to do anything to change it.

i'll squat and poop and you hold the triscuit. Just like teamwork.

Deal?

I'm focusing on the count your blessings part of this post. Thinking back, if I had gotten married at a young age, I would have gone from depending on my parents to at least partially depending on my husband. I've been able to prove that I can survive on my own and fend for myself. It's a good feeling. I don't need someone to complete me. I would like someone who compliments me, though. Anyway, seeing women that go from man to man to man because they don't think they have it in them to be on their own frustrates me. I'm glad I'm not one of those people.

And WTF? I'm not even drinking tonight! Maybe I just need to go to bed. :)

It's allegory, Mr. booger. Good God. Do I have to explain everything around here?

The "Crap" is a metaphor for man's mortal existence. The "Triscuit" symbolizes man's unquenchable desire for a state of bliss. Therefore, the "Crap" overwhelms the "Triscuit" leaving man often forlorn and dissatisfied. Of course, if there were "Cheese Whiz", that would stand for "Cheese Whiz" which also symbolizes the inability to "Crap".

FAX

i know what you mean. Sometimes people take things too literally.

BTW, what does allegory mean?

:Dmy 96 yr old great grandmother uesd to say 'everything happens for a reason' (according to my Dad since I barely remember her) -...as well as lots of other people.

But, I'll be damned...she's been right 99% of the time. As tough as it is at times, I wouldn't change my life. It's all about perspective; as Mr. FAX has observed, sh(t can get a lot worse than "bad credit" or people hounding your for their 'interest payments" etc.

Thank you Jesus, Allah, Buhda etc.(I say 'etc' because I don't worship one 'god'. )..for allow me to stay dry, warm/cool (depending on the season :D ) and to have warm food and cold beer in my tummy.

[QUOTE=luv;5775910]I've been able to prove that I can survive on my own and fend for myself. It's a good feeling. QUOTE]

I got the same feeling after returning from the Navy (and I wasn't even gay...NTTAWWT); it felt nice to know I could survive on my own.

:D
:thumb:

Ms. Luv....is it possible to pen an short stroy/book in your free time?

I didn't start saying 'everything happens for a reason' until I'd seen enough proof of it in my own life. Agreed. I'm definitely happy with what I've got, and, what I'm not happy with, I'm working on changing. Life is good.

I thought I'd be pulling down a lot more tang at this point in my life.

Other than that, eveerything is swell.

I could, but you guys get the best of me. :D I wrote all of the time pre-internet days. It was my only outlet.

Interesting thread. I'll respond separately for career and for personal life.

Career

I thought back, and realize that I was driven in my youth, but never in a strategic sense. I just picked a direction and ran unthinkingly.

I think I've shared this before, but once I got past the football player/cowboy/rock star stage of dreaming, I decided that I wanted to be an architect and was very interested in it. It wasn't a necessarily grand dream, but I thought I'd enjoy it.

Then, during my senior year of high school, they had a career day. An architect came in, and when she told me the starting salary of architects I was crushed. Let's just say that Mike Brady had six kids living in two bedrooms for a reason.

Another speaker talked about engineering, and it sounded interesting and paid more than double the architecture starting salary. So I went into that. For the most part, though, I had no idea how a professional career should work, so I kind of sleepwalked through that phase of my career.

From there I went to grad school, with the goal of joining the Foreign Service and working in an embassy, which I thought was sure to bring adventure. However, in real life I decided that I didn't really want to live in a third-world country, and it would've involved great career sacrifice by my wife, so I was lost in the woods until I found the consulting job in Denver, which was very interesting to me.

I did that and liked it a lot, but the company got totally screwed up, so I left and started my own company, which quickly veered more toward market research and demographics. It was initially a means of supporting myself until I finished the Great American Novel, which is currently in its 23rd draft a decade later. Nonetheless, I like this work, and it kind of suits my self-perception, which is to constantly learn and help people answer questions, whatever those questions might be.

While I idly dreamed of fame and fortune, I never really knew how to pursue it, so in retrospect I more or less just picked easy paths that were available and sounded interesting. Not exactly a stirring tale of drive and talent.

Now I'm kind of depressed.

Personal Life

On the personal front, my vision at age 18 was to have money, live someplace interesting, have a classic English Tudor home, and to lead an Ozzie and Harriet family of myself, my lovely wife, and my four children, two boys and two girls, preferably in a girl-boy-boy-girl birth order. And drive a DeLorean.

My vision evolved over the years to something that better fit me, as opposed to the above, which was more or less my naive vision of what a perfect personal life should be. I scored the wife, but we decided we didn't want kids. I moved someplace interesting, though it took me a while to do it. The money thing wasn't working at all until I moved to Denver (I had to borrow money for the truck to move here), and then advanced rapidly where I'm comfortable, albeit not where I'd like to be in retirement savings, particularly in the last year.

And what I really figured out over time is that I valued experiences more than objects. I'd rather have interesting stories than more money in my bank account, which is why I wander off to places like Madagascar and Nepal and Egypt. Traveling may be a trite way to achieve that, but it works for me. I just read an article today that said there's a link between money and happiness, but only if the money is used to buy experiences rather than things. I think I agree with that.

So on the personal front, I don't think I gave up any dreams so much as I learned over time what those dreams really were. I'm a happy guy in that context.

I'm Priest Holmes.

See what i mean? I had dreams of being a salesman and its not working out too well as you all can see he isn't buying any of it.

:thumb:
Rock on. You've won 1/2 the battle.
One of these days if I/we ever make it to a tailgate, we'll *clink* beer bottles as a "America....F Yeah"!

:D

Uh-oh.

Don't read my career post, FAX. Nothing to see there, nothing to see.

Sounds good to me.

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You're Philip Roth?

I think I'm more of a Sal Paradise but with a broken pencil lead.

Fifth grade - Stay at home mom and author

Seventh grade - After significant weight gain over the summer, I decided that boys were not a sure thing for me. No hubby = no kids. I also knew that I couldn't support myself on trying to get started writing. I was VERY good with numbers, so accountant became new dream.

Senior year - I started getting involved with a church youth group, and I had taken a Psychology class and fell in love with it. By the time I graduated high school, I decided on Christian Counselor.

First semester of college - Major in Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies. Was making a C+ in my psych class, and making the highest grade in my English class (instructor's emphasis was on creative writing).

Then, well, life happened. Dropped out of school to work more hours and pay bills. Been doing that ever since. Heh.

Personal life? Dreamed of finding someone to spend my life with. Still dreaming...lol.

My dream has always been to have a job that I enjoy going to every day. Always wanted to either work in sports or be a cop. About a year and a half until I graduate and I plan to become a part-time police officer to go with something in the sports field. If the job market is lacking, I'll either become a full-time police officer or enter the military.

I wanted to be so rich that I could afford a building large enough to give everyone in my family their own floor. Hell, I haven't even been able to own my own place yet. :sulk:

Never had dreams about a career. Never knew what to dream about. Always kinda lost. Still am I guess because I hate my job but have no clue as to what I want to do.

I've had one real dream for my entire life.

I'm working on it.