So often we are asked “where do you see yourself five years from now?” We always give a generic answer “I see myself as successful after college,” “I see myself starting a family,” “I see myself working in my career.” It’s never truly where we see ourselves. I think it’s time we be honest with ourselves about the elusive “five years from now,” I think we should answer this question with the truth.
Photo by Maranatha Pizarras on Unsplash
Five years from now, I have no idea what will be happening in my life. I hope I am successful in my chosen career, I hope I am living my life fully, and that I am enjoying what I do everyday. I hope that I am contributing to the world around me and that I am helping others, so that they too may lend a helping hand to those around them. I hope that I am done with school and that I am not so scared of my student loan debt. I hope that I still talk to my parents as often as possible and that my little brother can still count on me to be there whenever he needs me. I hope that I have a better idea of how to function successfully as an adult, because right now it feels like I’m stumbling around in the dark without a flashlight.
Five years from now, I hope I’ll have checked off more concerts from my bucket list, that I’ll have seen every superhero movie in theaters between now and then. I hope that I’ll still read for fun regularly, because it makes me feel like I can take a break from the real world. I hope that I’m still making niche playlists for myself to listen to, because they make me laugh. I hope that my sense of humor has only grown and that I don’t take myself or my life too seriously.
Five years from now, I hope I am happy, healthy, kind, and doing my best. I hope that I still see the world through a positive lens. I hope that I don’t let my fears or failures stand in my way. I hope that I will be more mature, but still myself. I hope that I can make my parents and myself proud.
Five years from now, I promise to stop viewing “five years from now,” in such a concrete way. If I was living the life I saw for myself five years ago I’d be in a much different place. I would be in school for a completely different reason, I would not be in extracurricular organizations I am in, and I wouldn’t be who I am today. We answer “where do you see yourself five years from now?” so narrowly. We only see it was a passage of time, instead of a whole life lived in that period. Honestly, five years from now, I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing. I can tell you my hopes and dreams for that time, but that’s all I can give you. We live in the present, not the past or the future, so why not ask us about right now.