10 Years Ago, Did You Imagine ....

Ten years ago, the future seemed brighter and dreams were more likely to get real. My parents were proud of me and my self-esteem was high. Now, I just realized how much years have changed so many things in my life. I definitely didn't imagine and want where I am now, but there re things I have now and special people in my life that still makes now worth living.

I would never have imagined that I would be where I am now. I had thought that by now the kids would be in college and my husband and I would be going off on weekend jaunts by ourselves. I would be working to help pad out our retirement funds, having gone back to school and gotten a paralegal degree. Now I'm divorced, the kids have both decided college is not for them, I'm living alone in my first house of my own with my two dogs. Life isn't bad but it's quite different than what I'd expected. Life would be so boring if it conformed to what we expected it to be. This isn't what I'd envisioned for myself but it could be so much worse, I feel blessed and I have a measure of contentment as I move towards the end of my life.

10 years ago today I was just settling down with my husband. I'd grown weary of living in my mother's house, so I packed all my stuff and moved myself, my 4 year old son, and my 2 cats into my husband's tiny little studio apartment. We then got a condo together and moved into that during the week of the 9/11 attacks. He remembers well because we were having cable installed when the attacks happened and he and the cable guy were watching it on TV in disbelief. I suppose I'm pretty much right where I expected to be.. except for a few minor things. I never thought I'd have 5 kids.. I figured 2 or 3. I never thought I'd be living in a crappy trailer that I hated.. I figured we would have had our own house or at least a decent type place to live.. but again I wasn't counting on 5 kids and needing to take so many years off work to raise them. I didn't expect I'd be going back to school right now and working a part-time minimum wage job. I figured I would have gone back to school years ago.. but again, the kids messed up that plan. 10 years from now I do expect to have the house and some money and a decent career.. and fewer kids because at least one of them should be moved out of my house by then.. let's hope.. of course 10 years from now my oldest will be 24... and he's a boy so who knows if he'll actually move out or not.. but the twins will be nearing 18 and getting on with their lives.. I'll also have a 15 and 13 year old. Yikes!!

My plans are often flawed my own recklessness, and i quite regret it, from my past experience i have learnt alot about life but that alone wont be enough, i still have to work my way to achieve my goal, only thing is that i have no patience for waiting things to happen than go for it, but that quite wont work too, i now get it that i have not learned enough, i need still to study to be perfect in what i do.

This discussion made me nostalgic feeling. I occassionaly used to think my past, I had done many wrong and wish to go back and correct me but I cant do that. As you mentioned I didn't set a path to which I have to go but now I feel I want to do that because I have got more responsibilities. If I had joyful life last 10 years ago now I have busy career in order to run smoothy. If I had done this before I shouldn't have face it today .

yes, i became what i thought i deserved. only the appearane has changed (for the better) but i am still the same innocent simple person.

I was 29 years ago ten years ago. At that this time then I had been teaching a Year 1 and 2 class. It was a maternity contract that had begun in May and ended in the October. I booked a trip to New Zealand leaving in the November. I wanted to go off traveling that winter to there and the Pacific Islands. I wouldn't have imagined coming back to lots of debt on my credit card or not being able to find another short term teaching contract. I got a part time job in a shop to keep my finances ticking over. In that September I got a job in a town school. Cycling there was much easier than the village. I loved teaching there on two different temporary contracts. I had been living in an old cottage and owned it for 14 years (from age 19 to 33 years old). My brother-in-law's job moved to a different area. I decided to move to stay close to my mom and my sister. When I had left I had a wonderful boyfriend and early the next year it was shocking we split up. I went on rebound into another relationship. I was 36 weeks pregnant with my son when I found out about his severe disability. Two years later my daughter was born. From age 33 to 38 years old I had lived in a modern house with countryside views. Last year I loved to a bungalow due to my son's mobility needs.

for the most part no.. Ten years ago i was twice as shy as i am now. Good thing i kinda develop that in college. I didnt think that i would land at this kind of job i have right now. I doin better with life back then though but i would understand cause i get to pay everything for myself now. Before i was fully dependent .

Ten years ago, I had just turned 21, and trying to figure out what to do with myself. I had a plan, but it was burned badly when I was thrown out of school. I followed some bad advice on starting over, which got me nowhere. I went back to school, but without much of a direction, which did me in right there. And because I was paying for it out of pocket, I became a workaholic paying for school, missing out on life. I never had many hobbies and what I had was killed off from working. In ten years, I dealt with being thrown out of school, financial ruin, falling victim to unemployment twice, two evictions, a bad relationship, and being arrested twice. Not to mention depression. Today, I still have some of the wounds from those last ten years. I doesn't help the place that I live does not make it comfortable for people to live comfortably. Unemployment is still too high. And there is a slight degree of regret since most of my friends are married, and starting family, and have finished school. Or so they were my friends. I stopped dealing with them when they thought it was a good idea to ridicule and criticize me for not having any success, and bragging about theirs. I have gone back to school with a clear focus, and only have one year left to finish. I have put dating aside so that I can get myself back together (I have never officially dated anyone, but I better hurry before I get old). I have also developed some new hobbies, and dusting off old ones since I have time now. Along the way, I may have torched some bridges on some people, but I think it is for the best because they never wanted me to cross that bridge anyway. For me, this is a lot more than starting over, it is more of a transformation of myself entirely.

LOL! Ten years ago there would have been absolutely no way for me to predict where my life would be right now. I do not necessarily think that I had a "plan" as that sounds like I had a solid idea of where I wanted to be, which I did not. However, I did have a "vision" or "image" of where I would be at least in a vague sort of way - it looked nothing like what my life looks like now. Some of how my life turned out is due to decisions that I consciously made along the way. Other parts were just "going with the flow" and seeing where it took me. I would never have imagined my life being where it is today, but I can't say that I regret many things that got me to this point, either.

Ten years is a long time to set a path and follow it. I know I had certain dreams and plans for myself and my family. Looking back, I would not see where the twists and turns of life would take me. Some of them have been good turns and some of them have not.

Ten years ago I was 10 years old . I remember always wanting to become a doctor. My math teacher told me once that I can be a good teacher but I said that I want to become a doctor. I'm a senior in college right now and I did not take up medicine. Ten years a go I also wanted to marry this certain guy from a boyband lol. My life did not turn out the way I expected and wanted to but as long as I am breathing, I can still change it.

Im still counting now. I'm not old yet. There are some things I wish I was able to do back in college life yet the resources are limited.Like I really wanted to study in a university but ended up in a small public college. Maybe, if i had graduated from a high reputable university, I would have a better work now. But still, I'm thankful for everything.I'm working on right now on planning for future so there will be no regret when I get old.

I would never have though I'd be who I am now. Ten years ago, my family had so many expectations for me. They thought I'd go abroad and work their and be successful and have lots and lots of money to buy my mom a house and such. I had expected to be a Supervisor of a Semiconductor company because of my course, myself. I'm an engineer by profession but I've been in-love with computers. Now I'm working online and fixing computers for a living. I'm not into marrying early or having kids anytime soon so I guess my lifestyle suits me well for now. I don't earn much but it pays for my expenses.

Nope, if anyone would of told me my life would turn out the way it has in the last ten years. I would laugh my head off and not believe them. My life is nothing like i thought it would be ten years. I never imagine my own husband would shoot me, my oldest son living in another state or me going through a second divorce all on my own. I never imagined i would be disabled and never be able to work again.

Ten years ago my first book came out.....I never believed I would do what I have with writing even though since I was a child it was my dream! But here I am....and have actually made some money at it!

I am just the type of person who follow where life takes me,in other words I drift with the current of life.Even though I am a atheist,but sometimes I find that it makes sense that man proposes,God disposes.

Ten years ago, means I was 10 years old back then. At that time, I don't think I had planned my life path well I was starting plott my life when I was on High School. Later, my life wasn't following the plot perfectly. Human do the best, God take care the rest

NO. Ten years ago, I had a lot of plans for my future. But none of my aspirations and dreams came true. I screwed up a lot. I must admit that. Now I always have the feeling that I don't belong to the life that I am living now. I've wasted a lot of time and now I feel like it is too late to start fresh and get back on my feet. Oh well. So much for my dreams.

My life is nothing like I ever thought it would be. Ten years ago I was in the middle to end of the best time in my life. I was the happiest I'd ever been. Now, I'm almost literally living my worst nightmare. I have an abusive boyfriend. I don't make enough money to pay our bills and put food on the table most months. I generally only buy what is needed. I have a son that I love dearly, but I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just not what I wanted. I would go back to work, but I don't trust my boyfriend/his dad enough to leave him alone with him for that long. In contrast ten years ago, I was dating a couple of awesome guys. I has lots of friends who I saw all the time. I was going to concerts with a reviewer and getting great seats for free. Half my friends were in local band, I knew bar owners, bar tenders and security. I got to see my best friend all the time. I miss that life, I miss being that happy