So uh. . . yeah, things did work out for me, and I got an awesome assignment in my current job. To come full circle from when I graduated college in '99, I’d say yeah, some things turned out the way I wanted.
Tripler
. . . most things for the better since my last post in this thread.
Well, I knew I’d die at 31. Always knew that. Even had a vision of my walking toward a frozen lake in the woods, with a little girl and her slightly younger brother, each holding one of my hands. And I knew that I was going to die under that ice.
To this DAY I have no idea why that premonition existed at all. I kind of ignored it. Was at the birth of my niece and nephew, a year and a half apart, and right when they were about 4-6, went back to work in Alaska, where my boat was actually surrounded by ice for a time.
But nope. I’m still here. 
Not that I had a plan at all, but this wasn’t it. There’s still time to change I suppose. Get things on some kind of rails. Get out of here.
Up until recently, it was all according to the non-plan. Travel, working with kids, theatre, university, awesome guy in my life, surrounded by people I think are cool. Suddenly I’m stuck here and not entirely sure how it happened. I need to get out.
No.
Thank goodness.
I’m glad this thread has been resurrected, because the year after I first posted in this thread everything turned to shit for me and it’s only in the past fortnight that things have fully turned around, and I’m considering going back to school and switching careers entirely.
The past fortnight? Certainly a cool time for thread to be resurrected then! What do you want to now? Good luck to you
I was one of those people with a plan. Career wise, I would move up the ladder of child advocacy organisations until I became someone like Marian Wright Edelman. Personally, I would marry a man I loved, but not have children. I didn’t have a particular geographic area in mind, but assumed I’d live in DC or some other American city where my career dreams could be fulfilled. However, I did want to spend a couple of years living abroad in order to broaden my horizons.
As planned, I did marry a man I loved, in 1982, and we did set out to live abroad for a couple of years (1986-88).
Only the funny thing was, we found it so interesting to live in other countries that we never looked back - since 1986, we’ve spent only 4 years in the US and the rest of the time in Micronesia, Mozambique, Egypt, and Indonesia. I adjusted my career so I could work in whatever country we happened to move to (I do communications/development work now). And somehow, when I was 39 we ended up having a child (completely planned, not an accident).
I’m still amazed at how my life has turned out so differently than what I expected. The life I imagined was a good one, but the one I’ve had has been wonderful. So, no regrets. Or at least, any regrets I have are balanced out by my appreciation of the great experiences I’ve had that I never even dreamed of.
Nope
I don’t know that I ever really had a plan, but I’m sure not where I ever thought I’d be.
I have never had a vision of the future. Never really had long-term plans or dreams.
This is kind of a good thing. It’s hard to get disappointed when you don’t have expectations.
But it’s also kind of sad, too. I actively avoid thinking about the future. So when I catch myself doing it, a sense of hopelessness always comes over me.
I don’t think I ever anticipated any of the things I have in my life, both the good and bad. I am doing both surprisingly well and surprisingly bad. I feel both lucky and unlucky.
I will say this: I hope years from now, I do NOT look back on this time and think, “What the hell was I whining about? I had it so EASY!” In other words, while things could be a lot worse, I sure hope these aren’t the best days of my life. That would be depressing.
OK. I’m going to stop thinking about the future now.
And an update from 2006 to 2012.
Still not successful. I actually had a girlfriend for a few months though, so I’m not a complete failure there. I got laid off, tried a crazy scheme that didn’t work, was on welfare, and now am back at school. At age 49.
Maybe my next scheme will be better suited to my talents.
In high school I wanted to be a writer. Loved writing. Still do. But I knew even then that most writers don’t make it, so I had a back-up plan. Psychologist. Got my B.A. in Psychology in the early '90s. However I didn’t follow-through and go to grad school.
Ended up working in a grocery store, then in office jobs for 13 years, then finally disabled due to bipolar disorder. My health in general is not great - I am severely overweight, out-of-shape, and have degenerative arthritis in my back.
I had been sure that by now I would at least be married, but other than a few attempts at relationships, I’ve been single most of the time.
This isn’t at all where I thought I would be at 42.
But it’s not all bad. After my mom had her stroke and couldn’t live alone anymore, she moved in with me. For about 10 years before that we’d been practically estranged. But now we’ve really connected and she’s probably one of my best friends.
I’m happy that I still have my college friends, and I’m glad they still put up with me.
I picked up crocheting, knitting and cross-stitch as hobbies. They’ve been very rewarding. Never would have pictured myself doing that in college!
My finances are starting to stabilize. I tend to spend impulsively, and I’ve made some bad decisions. I’m catching myself more now than I used to.
And I’ve had the privilege of having some really neat cats, so that is cool too.
I never thought I’d still be part-time faculty after all these years, my experience, qualifiations, publications, evaluations, etc. Then again, I didn’t realize everything was going to end up being about the bottom line.
No. I’m unemployed, single (as of 7 years this past week), 35, and live in a tiny apartment with a mouse in the walls. Not much chance of any of this changing, and I mainly have myself to blame.
The upside is that I care less everyday. 
Geez, this is really a downer, isn’t it? :o
Ditto for me.