Kid to adult question...is it all worth it?

Post Reply New Topic

Is it really worth plowing through education to get into a job I don't really want to do so I can work for fifty years, then stay in bed all day watching TV and wondering if my kids will call?

Is there anything that's occured in your life that's really broken up all the sludge and concrete of modern living? What's helped make you feel like your life is worthwhile?

Yep. Ignore it all and do what you want.

That is, if you can get a job, get married, and have kids... I've only ever been able to do just one of these, and it's because I took whatever job I could get.

There is NOTHING more rewarding than good family relationships, with parents, brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren -- the only thing that comes close is strong friendships with people who you share interests with, people of substance and character who are worth spending time with. No job, no accomplishment, no success can compare to these things -- and these are the things worth living and working for.

I find my obsessions to be very rewarding. I have animals and guitars instead of kids. I like it that way. Education has been worthwhile because it has helped me pursue my obsessions. Same with work.

I second that. Find what you love to do and make your living at it. Have a second skill to fall back on, too.

I concur. That is the beauty of adulthood. Nobody is forcing you to get married, or have a family, or work at one job for 50 years, or even live in one place for fifty years. If you want something, you can get it, as long as you have the ambition.

And, on that note...

I have kids, one who lives with me, and many musical instruments. Wish I had animals (*&(*^ pet rent). Music is my obsession, and having the job I have allows me to pursue different instruments. I have the job because of my degree.

I also have a life where no one tells me what to do, and everything pretty much goes whatever way I make it go. Not that it's easy, but being under no one's thumb, able to pick up whatever guitar I choose and plug in, play for as long as I want, read what I want, pursue what interest I want, is very cool. I have also developed kind of a 'special interest' in what I do for a living, which is possible if you work to put yourself in that position. Work doesn't have to be horrible.

I prefer life over 40.

You have to cover the money side of life, it's horrible not having any, so if education will get you there, do it. Not everyone needs an education to succeed financially though. Self employment is the usual recommendation for aspies. I would think that's the best way to go, but I didn't get dx'ed early enough in life to know that.

I never married nor had kids, I need too much quiet and time alone for that. I have dogs. I'm not unhappy.

I hated being young! I rebelled ceaselessly against the things you mention,too. I have realized lately that being marginally employed ( full-time physical, no-time mental), is boring. I CAN NOT STAND BEING BORED ( obsessions took up the slack for decades, but my mind is really restless at 50) I want to go to school to get accreditation for a more lucrative,challenging job--20 more years, or so, to work and spend the rest of my life going to school to pursue things I love---writing, languages,political science,military and civilian history, psychology, nutrition, culinary arts, social sciences...Life has expanded exponentially at the this point where,realistically, it is dwindling.

No... it's not worthwhile..

Only if you want that life.

Otherwise, work somewhere long enough to get a little bit of money then travel. If you're willing to work hard, you don't need much education.

Of course, things will get harder as you get older, but you'll be more experienced by then.

Well, my education was really geared to my writing and my work is writing. I don't enjoy it much when people want to reward me by making me a manager or worse (like now they've rewarded me by making me a Compliance Officer which makes me want to stick forks in my eyes), but my education will allow me to find my way back into writing somewhere else and I'll be happy again.

Try to tailor your education to what you want to do. Is there anything you particularly enjoy? I enjoy writing no matter what special interest I might have going on at the time. I always knew I would write. I save my fiction for non-work writing and leave my Technical Writing for a way to make money. It doesn't zap my energy and I like it.

I would say that's what you should do. Break it down into an intellectual pursuit and forget the NT explanations for why you should do it. They won't make much sense to you, so you have to find your own meaning in it. That will make it much more bearable.

Also, don't think about the mundane stupidity of earning money for a society built on mass fictional belief. If you let yourself do that, you'll go crazy. Disassociate yourself from that and play the game only enough to take care of yourself and do what you want. You see far too much to be happy with things as they are so you have to make your own life.

Hope that helps!

Do what YOU want to do...and if that goal changes in 5 years...change with it.

Sludge? I've got a hose for that...you won't find any here. I'm too busy trying to enjoy life.

Sure it's worthwhile...but you have to make it that way...and one person's idea of a worthwhile life may not be yours, so find your own definition.

It depends - you can be more self-confident as you grow older.

If you have kids, you can't be sure that they won't call when you are older but spending plenty of time with them when they are small usually helps.

Leading a boring life just to meet societal expectations would do me in.

It really depends on the job. If you tailor your education to something that you really like to do, then it is worthwhile.

Heck, I don't plan on staying in bed when I retire or watch TV all day. My father does not do that. He is always out and about doing something. When I take time off from work, I might do that for a day, but then there is always something to do. Some work around the house to take pride in or somewhere to go.





Hitting rock bottom and ending up in the psych ward and realizing that I had nowhere to go but up or into the grave. I chose up & turned my life around. I learned not to look out at the world with tunnel vision, but to see it with eyes wide open and see all the possibilities.

I try to take pleasure in even the smallest things. Sitting by a creek somewhere and watching it. Watching my son play with a toy. I don't travel extensively around the country, but there is plenty to see and do by just exploring in the South. I can never see it all, but I enjoy what I can see.