What do you want out of life?

[Puzzicato]

The wedding is in 11 days. After all these years, I feel like my life is just beginning.

Best wishes to you and your fiance for a lovely wedding day and a very happy life together.

 

[rue]

Cash and Babes.


(LOL)

You're a complex man Scott lol

 

[scottyrocks]

Best wishes to you and your fiance for a lovely wedding day and a very happy life together.

Thank you, Puzzicato!

 

[kyboots]

As long as I have something to make me want to get up every morning, then I have what I want. I have been very fortunate and am very thankful. I work hard and still love it. My family is healthy, and we all love and care about each other. I can't think of anything more other than passing that on to other people. Put your boots on people!---John

 

[jamespowers]

To outlive all my enemies and make some new ones.

 

[jamespowers]

To be able to make a living from all the education I have.
To be able to go to the doctor without having to save for 3 years.
Maybe a husband, but if I get the first two I won't be picky.

LD

So you will be more picky finding a husband if you don't have the other two?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I like the way you think.

Cash and Babes.


(LOL)

 

[Atticus Finch]

Well...I’m thinking this may be a thread for younger people 'cause, realistically, two thirds of my life is probably water under the bridge. And if things go as I plan, my future working days may be fewer still. But some of the comments here have certainly caused me to reflect and do a bit of introspection.

I think, most of all, I want to be remembered after I'm gone. I hope that people can remember me as a person who contributed positively to his profession and, in some small way, maybe even contributed to the well being of North Carolina’s citizens. Since I began this gig, I have been fortunate enough to have helped some very bad people be held accountable for some pretty disgusting conduct. And along the way, I have even managed to create some law in North Carolina. A few of the cases I have tried have percolated up to our Appellate Division and have established precedent that is still occasionally sited in our trial courts. When I’m gone, would love for my friends to remember these modest accomplishments even if they don't remember much else about me.

Second, I would like to have a few good years of happy retirement before I go. I would like to travel and fish and play the guitar. More than that, I would like to always be the last person to leave the coffee club in the morning. I want to wave goodbye to my friends as they all go to work. Then I want to sit and quietly read my paper and finish my third cup of coffee.

Finally…and I’m not trying to be a bummer...I would love to avoid a prolonged death. I’ve seen much too much of that recently and I’ll happily tell you tell you, it just ain’t for me. I can’t think of any worse way to screw up an otherwise great life than to hang around for months...probably in misery...long after its time to go. Folks, when the party's over, I hope the Big Guy allows me to pack my stuff and leave...right now...without a bunch of drama and handwringing.

And if these three little things all come true...well...in spite of my lack of fame and riches, I will consider it to have been a life fit for a king.

AF

 

[angeljenny]

I would love to fall in love, get married and be all domesticated! I am kind of old fashioned and I love all the home making type skills and would love to just have a happy family life preferably living in the countryside with a little garden and some land for fruit trees, vegetables and maybe chickens.

I am quite contented at the moment though - even sitting on the shelf!!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Sounds like the 'American Dream' is alive and well across the pond!

I would love to fall in love, get married and be all domesticated! I am kind of old fashioned and I love all the home making type skills and would love to just have a happy family life preferably living in the countryside with a little garden and some land for fruit trees, vegetables and maybe chickens.

I am quite contented at the moment though - even sitting on the shelf!!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

...to notice...accept and truley appreciate all the blessings that have been given to me although I deserve very few. No matter how happy..or unhappy I may be. Then I have found true love and what I want out of life.
HD

 

[Lady Day]

So you will be more picky finding a husband if you don't have the other two?

The other two are more important to me. So, yes.

LD

 

[Lady Day]

I'm a firm believer in the old saying "be careful what you wish for."

I hear that a lot but Ive never had what I've wished for. I've had what I can make out of a situation, and what I've worked for, but what I truly ever wanted, no, not really. Just once, on something important I would like to have what I truly wish for so I can say with or without regret, 'Yes, do be careful.'

LD

 

[angeljenny]

Sounds like the 'American Dream' is alive and well across the pond!

Yup!!

I don't have big dreams - no mansions or castles, just a little house that is warm and welcoming and a family to care for!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

What more could one ask for? Reminds me of one of my favorite songs.

[video=youtube;ntDDqQKLNqA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntDDqQKLNqA[/video]

Yup!!

I don't have big dreams - no mansions or castles, just a little house that is warm and welcoming and a family to care for!

 

[Chas]

Good jam sessions and lots of sex.

[video=youtube;RNNGmx1kAfw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNNGmx1kAfw[/video]

You asked.

Oh, and a vintage Caddy. Perhaps more than one.

 

[randooch]

This thread's a thoughtful one. Reading all these personal aspirations is very interesting, but unless I contribute, I'll feel a bit voyeuristic, so:

I want laughter, comfort, and peace. I want to give more than I take. I want to live each day in kindness, and die with an abiding sense of wonder.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

My only real goal when I was younger was to not be poor. I grew up very poor in a rural backwater in Scotland. It was not for me! This goal has driven many of the decisions in my life; mostly in terms of education. So, I got as educated as humanly possible. Having achieved that original goal (there's little chance of me being poor again), my goalposts have shifted to what comes afterwards. My goals never really encompassed family stuff and surroundings; i'd be happy pitching up wherever life took me. But I seem to have stumbled upon a relatively stable family life after 10 years of marriage and a couple of cats who enjoy playing in the garden.

The current plan, which seems to be going as planned, is to retire at 50. By that time I will have worked like a dog for 32 years in an extremely stressful industry, and I think that's plenty tax money for the man, and plenty return to the country that educated me for free. And by retirement I don't mean no earnings, I mean a job that I can do from home, probably something creative, that I don't need to worry about making much money from. This has been a secondary goal from a very early age, and two of my uncles made it happen, so no reason why I can't.

But, while I still have to work, I'm trying to make the most of it. I am approaching contentment, even though my job is very unstable with short contracts at the mercy of the whims of Government. Admittedly academia is a bit of an outlier, but it's what my education and natural inclinations predestined for me. It pays very well, no matter what academics say regarding "comparable jobs in industry"; well enough to buy a house in the most expensive housing city in Europe. (House bought, ticked off list, and at the bottom of the market too - double trouble). The job allows extensive international travel. I'll be going to Japan in September, and Hong Kong twice at the end of the year/beginning of next. These trips, encompassing about 3 months, will cost me not a dime, because of the job. It also allows me to save money to make that "retire at 50" become a reality. My parents urged me always to save 10% of my salary, so I save 25%.

But mostly I want to retire at 50 because I don't want to do all those things I don't have time for while being old and frail. My parents are the standard "retire at 65" generation, though they do own their own home ("right to buy" being one of the few things we can thank Thatcher for), and are both quite run down physically and health-wise. They find it difficult to do the travelling and cultural stuff they want to do. I certainly don't want to be in that boat.

 

[angeljenny]

What more could one ask for? Reminds me of one of my favorite songs.

[video=youtube;swYl_rFe7Qk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swYl_rFe7Qk[/video]

One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite films!

 

[Old Rogue]

To outlive all my enemies and make some new ones.

lol Reminds me of that great philosopher, Conan the Barbarian. "What is good? Good is seeing your enemies driven before you and hearing the cries and lamentations of their women and children".

Seriously, reading through this thread has impressed upon me just how much alike most of us are. Sure, we wouldn't mind riches and fame, but a good family, a few good friends, and a comfortable life are really all we need to be happy. While I realize we don't know what tomorrow will bring, I feel like I'm pretty much there. My family isn't perfect, but I wouldn't trade them for any other. We have a very nice house on a large lot which will be paid for in a few more years. I've been at my current job for 30 years come the 29th of this month and I'll be eligible for elective retirement in about three more years. My health is good, so I'm looking forward to retirement not as a time to sit in a rocking chair but as a time to start a totally different career. Not sure what that might be, but with a pension coming in to offset the money needed to make a living I can look for something that I really want to do vice having to be overly concerned about salary. All in all, I'd say life is generally giving me what I want, and I understand how fortunate I am and am extremely grateful.