Ten Milestones

In this day and era, everybody sets milestones,

Milestone #1 - Have a girlfriend.
Milestone #2 - Get an MBA degree - Irrespective of whether I want to run a business or not.
Milestone #3 - Get a well-paid job – Investment banker, Strategy consultant, sends me around the globe, makes my friends go oooohhhhhhh.
Milestone #4 - Get married – All my friends are getting married. I don’t have anybody to hang out with anymore. Let’s get married and settle down.
Milestone #5 - Build my own house - Everybody is buying a house honey, maybe we should also get one, how long do we keep partying, we should may be settle down – by buying a house in a remote place.
Milestone #6 – Have kid No. 1 – So we have an MBA, a nice luxury car, a beautiful flat so now what next. Hey everybody is having kids, maybe we should too. That way we can settle down finally.
Milestone #7 – Get a better job – We now have bigger mortgage to pay, maybe we need more money, should switch jobs that gets a bigger package.
Milestone #8 – Have kid No. 2 – So everything seems Ok. Let us have another kid. (Because life is getting boring. We need more things to get involved in. More responsibilities, so that we have no time whatsoever to think about ourselves.) And finally we will be able to settle down
Milestone #9 – Get retired. Oh I have worked all my life now that I am retiring I can finally have some fun and settle down peacefully. It has been a long journey, I worked my ass off all my life for my kids who don’t even appreciate it
Milestone #10 – Wait for death and get forgotten.

Is this what we want from life?
 Do we stop and think about all those dreams we saw as a teenager?
Do we appreciate our achievements and take a break for ourselves. (Not the touristy break to an exotic country) but just hang out together hand in hand and have a worry free smile.
Do we stop worrying about money, our investments and mortgages ever?
Do we take some time out to just sip a beer alone and let the night pass by feeling just happy about where you are at present in your life?

It’s not practical to have no milestones or desires. I read somewhere that desire is the cause of creation and destruction, and therefore it is very important for human race to desire.

I just want us to be a bit more happy, a bit more relaxed and live a bit more in the present and not wait to live life till the day of retirement.

Should I and Would I??

6 months have gone by so quickly. I came to this city in September and it’s already March. Time is really flying and what am I still doing. The same old job, just better and faster. I ask myself if this is what I really want to do with myself and I always get back a positive No. This is not what I really want to do. When I started working as an Instructional Designer, when I was 20, I thought this was just a temporary job. Then I switched to a bigger company, but still doing the same job (with a fancier consulting job title) and now I am going to complete 7 years as an Instructional Designer and I ask myself if I am really good at it and if I am happy doing this for my entire life?

Well, obviously I don’t want to do this all my life, although I have a doubt that I might. It’s just this comfort zone which is so tough to break. I know how things work and I know what to do and I know people here and people know me. I am just set and I am earning enough. So ‘why not’ is the answer I find giving myself. Plus everybody who works in Technology or Consulting, get bored of their jobs after a while. It’s just monotonous. So even if your job is interesting, it may be the monotony that makes it boring. So is taking a break or a sabbatical a solution?

Hmmm, I have been thinking about it, and I feel that I am starting to dislike the corporate life. I know that even if I dislike the setup, I will still continue with my work and complete my assignments on time, be a part of the extra initiatives, take initiatives and be competitive and basically be a part of the rat race, but I know somewhere in a small corner of my heart, I want to do real things. Things that matter to me, things that will make a difference, however small the difference be.

But the important question I need to answer is do I have the courage to break the comfort zone and explore new options, without worrying about the future or result or the finances?

Long Time, No See

Love, Marriage and having kids, these three things are extremely overrated. Just like how Times New Roman is overrated by MS Word (I personally hate it).

And no, I am not saying this because I am ugly and nobody has been in love with me or that I haven’t been married yet (and no I am not a single lady in late 30s). I have had my share of relationships in the past. And now when I look back I do realize that there was a time when I thought I was so much in love with someone that I might have even moved to Alaska if he was with me.

I wonder if this has happened to you. That one morning you are just sitting with your louwer sipping coffee or having a sandwich you look at him and ask yourself, do I really love him?? What was I even thinking?? Like really!! And as you question yourself, the bulb lights up and you realize that something is not right, you realize that you were in love with a fictional character and not this douche bag.

So all that I really want to know is why is love so overrated? I agree it brings business to florists, heart shaped balloon sellers, cake bakers, gold and diamond ring sellers etc etc.. Just add in whatever crazy shit you might have bought your louwer. Oh mainly the Telecom industry, they all definitely benefit from love. But what do we get from this excessive obsession we water and nurture like a plant? Making all those false promises and it all goes into the trash can the minute the bulb lights up.

I just want to know the basis of love? Do we fall for someone we are physically attracted to, or someone we are very comfortable sharing our feelings with or someone who has been extremely caring and affectionate or someone we just feel like having a shot with or should it be a combination of all? Ya ya, I know that there is no definition for love and love just happens anywhere anytime and that we all have someone waiting somewhere shit.

But really isn’t it strange that we all have said “I louwe You” to some(one). I think we say it because we have seen it in Television how this handsome guy tells the three magical words to this pretty girl and everything becomes so beautiful and pleasant, and somewhere in our head we want to be that handsome guy or that pretty girl who would like to feel that important. Somewhere in our head we think that, like the prince turned the frog into a princess (or vice versa), may be this guy/girl would turn me into something amazing.

P.S: I know that my boyfriend will read this post. Dude, chill this is not about you :) And we are good.