Reading my “What does your mum/dad think is your main shortfall?” I noticed a few people saying they agree with their parents… So naturally I wondered what I thought my own shortfall was and then what other people thought theirs were.
I agree with my Dad that I worry too much.
I am ‘not living up to my intellectual abilities’ I blame that on dire lack of motivation (sure I could be peter molyneux and write clever computer games but I just don’t feel like trawling through all the easy but time-consuming learning required to reach that stage… and anyway I have other things to be doing)
I seem to be stuck with this idea that something is inherrently wrong with me. It’s a self-fulfilling. The thing that’s wrong with me is that I am convinced there’s something wrong with me. I should be satisfied with my lot (well paid, good CV, no medical afflictions, intelligent blah blah)
I might be one of those people who secretly craves the attention of being misunderstood/felt sorry for… yeah… I think I am… I think that explains a lot of my self-pity posts here in the past.
Quite the variations on a theme we have going here. What the hay, I’ll bite.
I open my heart too easily. Friends, strangers, lovers, you name it and I let my defenses down much more readily than the average person. This can lead to wonderful moments, but more often than not leads to heartache and pain.
It’s not a pure shortfall, but it’s the best I can come up with.
Until recently (well last year) I had done an amazingly thorough job of cutting myself off emotionally from, well, everything. That being more or less taken care of (though the rebound caused a phase like Autolycus is describing), I’d say primarily procrastination.
Incredible procrastination, not even like I wait to the last minute or don’t have time or don’t “schedule” well, but when I’m wide awake and have nothing to do and have an assignment due tomorrow and I’m sitting at my computer, I’ll jump in bed to avoid it. I go to incredible lengths to avoid doing “what I should be doing” (even if it’s not homework, whatever I HAVE to do, I avoid like the plague)
That I wear my heart and emotions on my sleeve and even when I make a concerted effort not to I’m not very good at hiding them.
I also like to take people and what they say/do at face value because that’s the way I am. If I say something, I mean it. There’s no ulterior motive or meaning and I expect the same from other folks. That’s obviously not always the case and I’ve been burned a few times as a result.
Too sensible and mature. While it can be a bonus for me in terms of setting goals and succeeding professionally, it really hampers my ability to socialize. In fact I often drop out of conversations because I get frustrated with “small” talk
I’m way too good at adapting, adjusting, and making do. Sounds great and in a way it is - really a stressless existence, however without major passions or drives or irritations, there’s not much fire in the belly for or against things. My name won’t be famous.
Definatally procrastination here too. Its 12:42am, I have homework to do thats due in the morning, and I just can’t get to into doing it. I could blame the dope here, but if I wasn’t here, I would be doing something else. I keep telling myself, “once I finish this thread, I’ll start doing the homework” then I finish the thread and start another… Speaking of which… Time to read about how the Alaska government screwed up.
My shortfall is definitely worrying too much. The last time I can remember where I didn’t have anything to worry about was the summer after graduating high school.
I can’t really help it, as I feel that it’s better to have all of my basis covered and be prepared for the worst than to not worry and possibly be screwed by something unexpected.
Me, too. Procrastination is underlying problem for so many of my shortfalls. It’s the reason I lose touch with people, have a messy house, don’t get enough excercise etc. What I need to understand is WHY I procrastinate so much- is it fear of conflict, a strongly introverted (yet social) personality, anxiety I don’t know.
That’s a good one- I’ve believed that axiom “What you have should make you happy”, and I do think there is powerful truth to it, but there is also wisdom in not being a chameleon adapting yourself to wherever fate has dropped you. Sometimes you need to make the hard decisions and fight for yourself.
Sometimes I feel that I’ve adapted myself out of existence- who is the real me?
On a personal level, the inability to get Mom to understand that I am NOT her husband’s replacement or something. My space is MINE, my free time is MINE. She’s less bad than she used to be, but Christ, just last week I mentioned I may take a couple days off and go shopping in Barcelona (thinking a bit of clothes but mostly books, and a movie - in Spanish!) and her response was “oh you should do that every month and I’ll come down and we’ll do things together.” Immediately I wondered whether there’s a Zara in Copenhaguen. There’s probably at least one Mango and one H&M… How is Copenhaguen for SciFi/Fantasy bookstores, anybody knows?
On a professional level, it would be nice to be able to convince people that I’m more efficient if I’m allowed to do my job my way.
So I guess I agree with my Mom that I can tend to be bossy/controlling. As I said in the other thread - I’m trying to fight this. Main obstacle to putting it entirely behind me is that as a parent, I need to be the “boss” with my kids in many circumstances, and at work I’ve got to take charge of my responsibilities, so I need to be better at figuring out how to turn it on and off so the bossy me doesn’t creep into personal life. Bummer is that in the past when I’ve let go of some of the reigns, I’ve been burned - like leaving car insurance up to the hubby. He lets it lapse and then wrecks the truck :mad:
I’d like a little bit of direction. I think there’s something I want to do with life, but it entails a process (I am working on it, though). It’s just that I expect more from myself and I wish I were more financially independent than I am. That’s a long way of saying that I wish I made more money. I’m starting to work on that, too, but it seems that whenever I get started, some unexpected expense saps my savings.
A small lottery win, like only a hundred thousand bucks would be a great shot in the arm. No, I’m not looking for a lightning bolt from the blue…