Anyone else less ambitious than they were as kids?

[Bethany22]

I'm finding that I'm having more realistic expectations of myself and my capabilities than I did as a young teenager. It's kind of depressing. I think they should be tougher on elementary and junior high students so that they don't spend the rest of their lives in perpetual shock.

[Lliam]

I was super energetic all my life. I played outside every day, rode my bike all over the place, and participated in sports when I was a kid. I elementary school I was ambitious, too.

I began surfing, skateboarding, snow skiing, hiking and backpacking in my late teens and twenties. I learned how to play the guitar and practiced for hours a day, and became a good lead guitarist and vocalist in three man garage bands by the time I was in high school. I didn't take high school seriously and goofed off a lot but still graduated. I always had a job, too. I worked hard and smart at my jobs, which gave me time to screw around and have fun.

I worked and attended community college part time after high school.

At 26 years old, I was handed an amazing career as a motor vehicle damage field adjuster/appraiser. I worked my ass off at that job for 30 years, but made great money and benefits, and had a LOT of fun.

I was my most sexually energetic when I was 37 and lived with an amazing 30 year old woman for over a year. She was hypersexual, orgasmic and inspirational. Even though we both worked full time, we still had sex at least two or three times every single day and sometimes for hours at a time without a break. Before her, I hadn't known that I could have so much amazing sex.

I got married when I was 42 and my wife and I moved three times before moving into our own home in the country when I was 48. We joined a non-denominational Unitarian Universalist congregation in town in order to meet people. I got super involved there, started up an environmental committee and chaired it for 5 years. But my wife and I got involved in all kinds of things there from wine tastings to dance parties. I started playing music regularly, too.

At the same time, I wound up joining a local environmental nonprofit when I was 52, and served as Board President for six years. I became a medium fish in a small point and got to know lots of people.

At our house, my wife and I planted a small orchard with a variety of fruit trees. We built pathways, arbors, rock borders, raised beds, and installed drip irrigation. I also did hours of weed trimming once a year for years.

It wasn't until I retired and started taking Social Security when I was 62 that I started slowing down. It was so nice not to have to go to work. I got lazy and started hiring people to do grunt work around my yard, even though I still do a lot. My wife and I enjoy restaurants, going to various events, and traveling.

At this point, I have to admit that I'm not nearly as ambitious as I once was.

[Agagagagaga]

Glad your life worked out. You’ve been fortunate, which is not the same as saying you’ve enjoyed blind luck. My life however, well let’s just say I’ve completely abandoned all hope and ambition because none of it ever did anything for me at all. In fact I hope to one day reach a point of complete hopelessness. Just completely give myself up to everything. The agonies of frustration, set-backs, disappointments, bad breaks, mix-ups, wrong turns, bad choices, and foul luck are a veritable mountain when compared to the successes I’ve had in life. There have been a few, a paltry few, and those triumphs short lived and quickly forgotten. I feel as though I’ve been battering my head bloody against a wall all my life, and other people somehow find a lose stone and just push it out of the way. Or they find a ladder. Someone throws them a rope from the other side. And there I am, wailing on the fucking wall, and everyone is looking at me, baffled, wondering what I’m struggling with.

Truth be told I’ll probably end up another homeless vet. People basically already treat me like one.

[Lliam]

@Agagagagaga. I'm really sorry to hear that, bro. I hope something wonderful changes your life.

I've definitely had major pain in my life.

[Agagagagaga]

Thanks. It is what it is. I take solace in simple things. Literature and nature. 🤷‍♂️

[Lliam]

@Agagagagaga. Literature and nature for me, too!

[Saltystardust]

It's the exact opposite, I'm more amibtious now. There were things I wasn't allowed to do as a kid, and dreams that I had that was told were NOT meant for me. Now that I don't have a parent telling me what to dream, or what to do, I've noticed I'm more ambitious and push myself to try new things.

My father was and still is pretty pissed off about the career path I chose and I hate that cut him out of my life to futher my dreams, but sometimes it has to happen.

[Sixgunsound]

What is your career path if you don’t mind?

[Saltystardust]

@Sixgunsound Cake decorator/pastry chef.

[Sixgunsound]

I’m an elementary/middle school teacher. When are you appearing on cake boss?

[Saltystardust]

@Sixgunsound Probably never, I don't think i have a face for tv.

[Sixgunsound]

Not everybody does traditional careers, but these days what even is a traditional role career? Almost every famous chef is a man, and I’m finding out that there are a lot more men teaching grades K through six than I ever thought possible.

[BlueScorpio]

Are you trying to burn out elementary kids already? I'm sorry but I think it's messed up to be though on elementary kids, rhey are just starting out and learning. Kids need to learn at decent pace and not have adults turn them into miniature stressed out, overworked version of themselves. When they get to high-school that's when the crunch really begins, I'm hearing sine high school students are craming their homework till 3 in morning sometimes. Then people wonder why their tired and depressed?

[fonduegirl]

What reality are you from? They're fucking tough on kids! 😭 As you age, it only gets worse. Have less kids. Maybe then you wouldn't have to sacrifice your ambition as women would have less responsibility and there would be more individual job opportunities. Just saying.

[Sixgunsound]

When I was starting high school, my mother was obsessively shoving me into medicine. After I didn’t get the grades for it my freshman year she gave up and equally obsessively started shoving me into education. In some context: she had been working in a school district as administrative staff not teaching faculty for nearly a decade at this point, and had been watching all the teachers get new cars every three years and have nice clothes nice hairstyles expensive her to turn that around her self she wanted to live that dream vicariously through me Administrative staff not teaching faculty for nearly a decade at this point, and had been watching all the teachers get new cars every three years and have nice clothes nice hairstyles expensive accessories, etc. And well it was far too late for her to turn that around herself she wanted to live that dream vicariously through me. What I actually wanted at the time was to go into space, but I ended up going the opposite direction and going underwater. There are a lot of similarities to submarining and spaceflight, and some very important differences as well.

[jennifer_bloom]

As a kid - I only thought about my life as a child - it never occurred to me I would one day grow into an adult. I was very smart in the first 8 years of school but became average once I hit 14-17. And in university I went from being a bad student to being one of the best. One semester I got the highest mark in the class in every class I was enrolled in.

[FunkyMonkee]

Only because I don't have as many options or outlets for what I WANT to do, anymore. If I was still in MY house and had easy access to everything I had there, I'd be doing a LOT more than I'm doing, now!! Still having the band would be a huge help, too!! If we could've at LEAST finished out third album!!

[pizzalovershouse]

I think school is already tough on teens to a point where more teens are depressed or thinking of killing themselves as for being older an what we reaise is not capable for us to do it's a out setting little goals an ones you love to do thenwirking up to bigger goals me I've become more creative now then I use to be

[AimeeKyle]

No. I remain very busy with a fulfilling career, travel sports for both kids, volunteering is several different capacities and helping out my parents and in-laws. During the week I generally get 4 to 6 hours sleep each night and sleep in usually one day on the weekend (~8hrs total)

[mermaidcancermoon]

My ambitiousness hasn't dropped, but I have gotten more realistic with my goals with age.

[Summeroflove]

Yeah. I wished I was a kid again. I wished growing up was a slower process. I even wished that when I was a kid. I knew I wanted to be a kid forever.

[Sparkie460]

I had a lot of ambition when I was younger. So much so that I pushed myself every day way past my breaking point of what my body could handle. I am paying for it now with all the pain in all my joints. It really wears a person down.

[Havthrills]

Nah. I don't think I am. I have few goals and try my best to achieve them. This last one is to be debt free (except for a couple cars) and I'm almost there.

[TheSpaceGnome]

No, my ambitions actually increased as my knowledge and skills improved.

[Staximus]

Definitely less ambitious, but still could have done everything I wanted to. I was just not motivated enough.

[jamesgoldman]

I'm more grounded in reality sure but so is the way of life

[NathanDavis]

let the kids be kids...

[CubaPirate]

Absolutely I now realise I won't be an astronaut lol 😆

[BlurryHaze]

Me neither! 🤣

[Debbie14217]

no not really

[Zolly99999]

Nope not at all...

[Jltakk]

of course, unfortunately

[Anonymous]

Just my career mindset changed

[Charlesbrandonf]

No not at all.

[Sabretooth]

Yup.

[eagle1951]

very much so