But everyone else seems to have their $#!& together...

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Come join with me in the ranks of the socially retarded! Raise your hand if you are not where you had always planned and hoped to be. Say "aye" if you are completely happy with how your life is going BUT.

Life is so easy to measure by what we haven't done or what we don't have. Daily, we're shown in different ways by different people how far behind we really are. Just today, two different people's travel pictures have made me realise how little of the world I've seen and reading a friend's blog about how her plans for children has made me realised just how far off that dream is. Reading A cat of impossible colour reminds me that my slack ass is yet to craft anything worth sending to a publisher at all (another life-long dream - but I love your inspiration, Andrea, don't get me wrong!). I walked out the other end of the grocery checkout yesterday to see a leaflet on houses under $300,000 and it reminded me that I don't have a home to call my own. All this talk of engagement and marriages makes me look at my naked left hand and sigh... As I've discussed recently, patience is not my strong point. I want all of it and I want it now.

What's my antidote? Reasoning and planning. How does this work?

• Travel - most of the travel pics that make me jealous are people on their OE. An OE has just never appealed to me. If I'm going overseas, I want it to be purely on holiday and if that means that it takes me a while longer to get to exotic European destinations so be it. I'm also making travel a priority in my financial life, saving for my travels to Sydney next year and a trip to one of the french polynesian islands (as a 25th birthday present) in 2010.
• Marriage and babies - I can't plan anything for this. In fact, planning to be married and have children by certain ages is part of what has me feeling socially retarded. With this I just have to put my faith that this will happen at the right time and with the right person - I reason with myself that being unmarried and child-free is better than being a divorced, solo mother (not that there is anything wrong with that, I just don't feel that its a path I could handle very well).
• Writing - this is a bit more of a challenge and if I'm going to be perfectly frank, it's something that I just really need to get my ass into gear on. When I get sad about this one, I remind myself that I only have myself to blame - there is absolutely no one and nothing but a lack of time set aside stopping me from achieving this one.
• Buying a house (and other big financial goals) - I have to appreciate that there is a finite amount that my student dollar can stretch and that I made the choice to go back to university in order to pursue a career that I am truly passionate about. Here again, planning helps. My hope is to save my dosh over summer break 09/10 and the first six months of 2010 (with full time money!!) to buy a replacement car for my old bomb and then save furiously for a downpayment on a small wee house or unit that I can cover the mortgage myself. I've got this urge to have a place of my own... regardless of size :D

So this is how I handle being behind where I want to be - it also helps to talk to others and realise that regardless of what goals they have achieved, there are areas that they've fallen behind. So share with Aunty Scribbles... where do you feel you're lagging behind?