When I Grew Up

I got to thinking today about the people I wanted to be when I grew up. Let me rephrase. When I was a child, there were many things that I wanted to be when I grew up. Today, I decided to write about those choices. While there are a few typically chosen careers included, there are quite a few that reflect my active imagination….

A Rancher– In 8th grade, our class was required to write a paper of our future life plan. Being the un-planning type person that I am, this was quite an easy assignment to complete. I stated that I planned on living on a thousand-acre ranch complete with horses, though I had no idea how I was going to get said ranch. I have since graduated to dreams of a castle, which leads me to my next career choice…

A Princess- Most young girls dream of being a princess when they are young. My ambitions of princesshood came later in life. As in at the age of 15 or so, when Princess Di perished.  That was the first time I laid eyes on the face of the person who was going to make  me a princess. Sadly, Kate Middleton had the same idea that I did. (Bitch) Now I have to settle for Prince Harry, but in retrospect,  I guess that’s ok, because he ended up growing into the cute Prince.

A Beach Bum- I find anyone who lives homeless to be incredibly brave. Now I realize not everyone chooses this lifestyle, but there are those who pull it off quite gracefully- like the people who live in warm states. There’s something to be said about the individuals who are fine with owning nothing and can live day to day with only the clothes on their back…

An Artist– I remember wanting to be a well-known artist when I was a child. That dream was dashed against a rock when my Third-grade friend Merry won the Fireman’s Poster Contest. I realized at that time that I would never be the kind of artist that I wished to be. (It still hurts.)

A Committed Individual- This was probably the career I put the most effort into achieving (Albeit subconsciously.) Near where I grew up, there was a campus of beautifully old buildings used for housing the insane and addicted. As my mom would drive me to school, I would point to them and say, “I want to live there someday.” At that time, I didn’t know what manner of people lived there. After I found out, my mind was NOT deterred from wanting to live there, which makes me think I would belong…

Zorro– Believe it or not, I used to want to be a masked crime fighter; however, the only one I ever truly thought had any style was Zorro. I think it was because of the horse. Anyhoo, I haven’t a horse, and I don’t speak Spanish, so I don’t think I fit the bill.

A Missionary to India- As I was growing up in a Baptist church, it was considered a great honor to be a missionary. In fact, thinking about it now, missionaries were exalted to the heights of idols in our church (Breaking one of the 10 Commandments there, Baptists) Being the good little girl that I once was, I decided that India was filled with the most people who needed saving. (The whole gold and bright colors thing was just a plus) I have since decided that I must needs save myself before I worry about anybody else’s eternal souls.

I suppose all of these choices are no longer optional, as I have decided to Peter Pan my life and refuse to grow up.

P.S. I believe the Pussycat Dolls summed up the extent of my goals nowdays when they sang, “When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna have groupies.” (Just so you know, I actually thought that last part was “I wanna have boobies” until I looked up the lyrics just now.