Living Without a Plan: Never Too Sure Where My Life Was Going!

I've long admired that group of people who knew already when they were 12 years old that they wanted to be a vet, or a doctor, or an engineer, and then they just set out to become that and that's what they've spent their life doing.

To be honest, even though I got a University education in finance and marketing I never really had any idea where my life was going. Why did I study finance and marketing? Well, it was something that I had somewhat of a grasp on so it would be an easy degree and it was also a choice most of those around me would hear about and just nod and go ”uh huh” and I would be left alone and not have to explain myself.

I think — to some extent — what would put me off having too much of a plan was that I would watch these people (whom I just professed to admire) and not really be able to detect that they were particularly happy with their lives. Certainly, they had a plan, and they had drive, and they had motivation but I just didn't see contentment anywhere. In fact, a lot of the time what I saw was stress and anxiety.

In spite of the fact that I ended up with a somewhat ”fancy” University education, even my college progress did not happen in a straight line. I changed majors a number of times, and in between I took lots of classes that I simply thought would be interesting, regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with my major.

As a result, I barely managed to graduate after five and a half years — working on a four year degree program — in spite of the fact that I took ”placement tests” in my first semester and managed to get credit for almost 18 months of study.

Now I'm 60 years old and I'm still not too sure where my life is going. After all these years, I continue to work at this and work at that but I don't have an actual job. I've never had a ”career.” I just tend to do this and do that.

In one way, I am fulfilling a promise to myself by merit of the fact that I'm writing. Whether I'm any good at it remains open to debate, but at least I'm doing it consistently. The fact that this community allows me to occasionally earn a few dollars still feels more like icing on the cake than an expectation.

I used to worry about not having a plan, because it seemed so counter to what everybody around me was doing. I think I also worried because I was afraid people might be right when there is hold me that without a plan you're not going to go anywhere in life. In time, I came to realize that I wasn't trying to ”go” anywhere, I was pretty content simply being where I was.

I'm not getting any younger of course, and sometimes I wonder what it will be like to not have a plan as I enter my senior years. Will there come a time when I'm simply no longer able to do this in that to support myself?

I expect there will, and there's not likely anyone who will take care of my when that time comes, so I can but hope that the cryptosphere continues to grow... and that I will be able to continue writing in venues like Steemit for many years to come!

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Have you always had a plan for your life? When you were young, did you know where your life was going to go? Or do you just make up plans as opportunities present themselves? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210519 01:04 PDT
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