Childhood Plans: 25 Days of Me

It’s day 16 of the 25 Days of Me and today I wanted to reshare this post from 2012. I wrote this as I was looking back on my childhood dreams and plans. That I learned was that life took me in a different direction altogether. What did you want to be when you grew up? I was going to be a doctor and an astronaut. Big dreams huh? I learned later that I couldn’t be a doctor because fainting at the sight of a needle might be a bit of a problem. Let’s face it no one wants a doctor who passes out every time they pull out a needle. It just doesn’t convey reassurance. Although now in 2021 I am much better about not passing out.

Having to get poked and prodded now all of the time I am an old hat at this. I have learned to close my eyes and look the other way. I also ask them not to tell me what they are doing or going to do. I don’t need to hear “a little stick” because it freaks me out. Also, I bruise so easily. There are ties I come out black and blue and have to wear long sleeves in the middle of the summer heat.

The astronaut thing wouldn’t work out because I have heart trouble and they would never allow me into space. Although I do have a relative who was one of the very first astronauts and worked for many years with NASA. He tested airplanes for the Air Force before joining NASA so there must be a screw loose somewhere in the family gene pool.

I should say that this decision to be a NASA doctor was made after my cousin and I watched Space Camp, the movie and then later that summer actually attended Space Camp. She was going to be a pilot and I was going to be the doctor. We had big plans to be on the same shuttle. She became a nurse and lives in Ohio while I got a business degree.

REgrets?

Do I regret that my childhood dreams never became a reality? Not really. Looking back now, honestly, those were dreams of a little girl who had been raised to believe that you were nothing unless you did something important or served your country in some great way. I grew up in a military family where we could go back generations in one branch of the service or another.

It has taken me years to be happy with myself and cast the regrets off. I am where I am suppose to be in life. Maybe I haven’t done great things but maybe I have in some way, during my life so far, touch another person’s life in a way that brightened it. Greatness is only what we make of it and to be honest I don’t think that great people set out to be great. They make a choice to do whatever the act is when required. Being ordinary can be just as fulfilling and has a lot less stress.

What were your childhood dreams? Did you accomplish them? Any regrets? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below please.