*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Growing Pains

I remember when I was in Secondary 4 my form teacher asked us what our ambition was and one of my classmates said 'housewife'. I remember feeling incredulous when I heard it and thinking, 'Huh? You mean THAT'S an ambition??? Whatever happened to all that we were taught – that we were confident young women capable of doing and achieving whatever we wanted? We were definitely not placed on this planet to be mere housewives!'

I don't know if monoceros, fatgirl or vantan remembers this incident. We were all in the same class in Secondary 3 & 4. Monoceros was my desk partner (we sat in pairs) for two years and vantan was sitting just behind us. Overacuppa was in another class so she wouldn't have known about this. As you can see, we all go back a long way!

But that was my 16-year-old self. Now on the cusp of 30 and entering a new decade of my life which marks another crossroad, I now think that was such a brilliant plan. That classmate, by the way, is now a high-flying accountant who is happily married. Pretty far-off from her then plans.

It may not be the most ambitious of ambitions, but I don't think any credit should be taken from being a housewife since it's not easy running a household, especially when one doesn't have any help from a domestic helper.

My before-20 self was filled with the vision that I'd go to uni, have a good career, get married and have a family by my late 20s etc...you get the picture. Evidently, reality has turned out very different. Reality is, as I've come to realise over the years, also not so smooth sailing and rose-tinted. But OK, it's not like I really want to be a housewife. No, actually what I want is to be a taitai. Hahaha.

Lucky are the people who manage to figure out what they want in life early on in their lives. Many, including myself, take a longer time and are probably still searching. I wonder if the many 'settled' people I see have chosen their path because they actually wanted it or is it more of the fact that circumstances chose them and they just went along with whatever was 'safest' and most 'right'.

A friend of mine messaged me over msn the other night and said he was envious of my current lifestyle 'cos I was still up at 1plus in the morning and I wouldn't have to worry about turning up for work on time the next morning. He said it was the next best thing to being a taitai. My reply to that was that that's so not true!!! 'Cos unlike a taitai, I constantly have to worry about money.

Of course, I'm nowhere near what most would consider 'successful'. I don't earn a lot and many people younger than me are earning heaps more than I do. Often, I can't help but compare myself to my peers and invariably, one tends to measure one's self against the monetary and career success of others.

I guess the important thing to remind myself is that everyone's different and that we all have our own paths to tread. I've made decisions that, for better or for worse, have given me different experiences, led me to this juncture in my life and made me the person that I am. At this point in time, I'm still figuring out and exploring options with regards to the future.

Who says only adolescents suffer from growing pains?

Posted by DSD at March 11, 2008 5:38 PM