The past decade of your life in retrospect

Topgearfanatic

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Let it out: the good, the bad, the great, what you could have done, and what you shouldn't have. Just your life and what has happened to you in the past ten years.

I'll weigh in when I have enough time to type it all out.
 
In the past decade I got a great girlfriend, then married her. Bought and sold more cars than I can remember (usually at a loss, because I'm an idiot). Bought a house. Learned, laughed, loved. Only thing I can complain about is not being able to make more money at my current job (11 years)...
 
I got into Uni which seemed to make me parents happy. I got to drive a few cars too, which made me a very happy guy. Found my first job, as well as made some new friends I guess. This decade has been a memorable one. Its just seemed like only a while back when I was celebrating the beginning of the new century.... My how time goes by.
 
I still remember waiting at the petrol station on December 31st 1999 with all the other morons like it was yesterday.
 
Here's a well thought out, complete, analytical and accurate discription: CRAP
 
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^ pretty much that.

Had lots and lots of stuff written out, but basically life happened. Got a job, bought a couple of cars, sold a couple of cars, fell in love, had my heart smashed into a million tiny pieces, had some fantastic work experiences, had some really crap experiences that almost made me kill myself. Made some new friends, lost some, buried some, spent time with them and helped them through their lives, and was helped in return.

A few laughs, tears and tantrums along the way. All washed down with the occasional beer.
 
OK, guess I'll be the first to actually let it out. ;)

The bad years were 2000-2002. Crammed a lot of bad into that little span. I ruined my credit through not having the cojones to boot a string of worthless roommates. Still recovering from that. Spent too much time and money in the pursuit of chemically altered states; while some of the experiences I had were truly worth it, the vast majority weren't, and I came perilously close to getting myself into real trouble. In small part due to that but in large part due to other factors, I lost sight of myself and my standards, by reason of which I now exist as a monster in the mind of someone whose opinion shouldn't matter to me anymore but still does.

Mind you, those years had high points that are hard to match. I landed a job in one of the best clubs on the east coast and learned for the first time what it's like to truly love what you do and the people you do it with. I got myself a family there (and nearly lost them through my stupid behavior). I had experiences I still can't quite believe I had; all I have to do now when I'm feeling down is remember some of what went on there, and I start to smile. It was such a nothing job, but it taught me so much! Above all, it caused me to grow a heeYOOJ pair of balls that have stood me in good stead ever since.

In 2003 I conceded defeat and moved back home. It healed my soul. I strengthened ties with my parents, with whom I've never actually been close (not for any dramatic or nefarious reasons; we're just very different people doing very much our own thing all the time). Six weeks later I met the man I married in 2006, getting myself a husband who's the envy of all my friends and the most stellar cast of in-laws the world has ever seen. I broadened my professional horizons and earned myself more stories, more scars, and a handful of lasting friendships. I deepened existing friendships exponentially.

I also, thanks to the internet, located every. single. one. of my long-lost favorite people, including four Swedes who had been nothing but a warm memory for 12 years and my oldest, dearest friend from high school. He popped up three years ago and I still occasionally find myself breathless with the good fortune of having him back in my life.

I got to do a bit of travel, some extemporaneous, some planned. Two trips to Holland (with a side trip to the Roskilde festival in Denmark--win!), a trip to Tuscany. In all three trips I got to spend time with locals--friends in Holland and Denmark, and my husband's family in Tuscany--and discovered that I'd much rather park my feet under a table where no one speaks my language than spend my days checking off all the tourist must-sees. I also did a bit of spontaneous travel within the U.S. and discovered that there's nothing better than seizing an opportunity to GTFO for a couple of days.

Having learned the importance of having faith in myself, my intelligence, and my creative impulses, I decided to rescue myself from a working situation I've grown to hate by creating my own job running a nonprofit organization I'm starting with a friend. I'm also writing a book that will probably never see the light of day, but if it does, it will remove a tiny bit of misinformation and misconception from the world.

So what have I learned from this stupid decade?

That my driving force is getting to the truth of things. That I'd rather do cool things than have cool things. That there's something worth knowing in just about everybody; it's just that sometimes you have to dig for it, and it's often not worth the effort. That it's possible to distance yourself from a bad situation by simply refusing to participate in it (or, in the case of George Bush's America, abide by its stupid rules). I've also learned the arts of self-forgiveness and letting go.
 
The 2000's were pretty decent for me personally, yeah the political climate sucked and warmed a bit, but that's not the decades fault. I entered the decade 16 and I now exit it at 26, this decade carried me from a boy to a man. I experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows in my lifetime during this decade. I learned to drive in this decade (yeah I got my license in 1999, but I really "learned" to drive in the 2000s), my first serious girlfriend (I totally hit that for the first time too), I graduated high school (salutatorian, damn you Thomas:shakefist:), graduated college, had my first job in 2000 (worked 2 jobs 7 days a week to pay for a trip to Europe), I also lost 2 great friends (1 in high school in an auto accident and another in college by his own hand), first real job, etc.

I'll split this one out; I lost my best friend in 2006, my grandfather. This is the man whom after I shaped my life, he went to Oklahoma State, so did I....he joined Alpha Tau Omega, so did I; He went into engineering, I couldn't handle the math and it kills me to this day because I let him down. My biggest regret is also in this decade and relates to my grandfather, I could have graduated in 3 years with a degree in International Business, but I decided to go ahead and stay 4 years and add another major (Marketing). If I had graduated in 2005 with one degree my grandfather would have been there cheering me on, instead I was going to graduate in 2006. Well during finals week my last semester he had a stroke and past away the morning of my last final and never saw me graduate.

The decade's been great and I look forward to the 20teens, but in 50 years when I reflect on my life. I bet I look quite favorably on this decade, regardless of heartache and heartbreaks.
 
Made it through Grades 1 to 9. Not much has changed in my life to be honest though I would like to remark on a best friends that I had from 03-06; we used to spend a lot of time together and then it just stopped; I wondered for months if it was something I said but I never quite knew; he just altogether stopped talking to me. I still think about it quite often. He was the closest thing I had to a brother and from then on I never quite really had a person outside of family which I could always talk to and trust - and I became more uneasy amongst other people.
 
Well, found a part-time job, made friends, thats probably the best part about last decade :)
 
Long slow stagnation and decline - thank you and good night.

In that case you are now fully entitled to sell the Zafira, get a convertible and a toupee if required and start having a full-on mid-life crisis.

I started mine early to save time.
 
2000 - 2003 were the final years of my primary school days. They are fairly irrelevant as when you're 8-11 you just go to school, then come home and watch TV.

2003 I joined a very decent grammar school, and had to completely change everything. I struggled in those first few years, but it was all too childish to care now. I've also completely changed friends since then as I haven't kept in touch with any of my primary school mates. No big loss).

2004-2007 nothing major happened. At all. Apart from puberty, which certainly didn't help my mind (who wouldn't want to go back to being 10 again?) but whatever everyone has to go through it. My dad lost his job in 2007, which didn't help one bit.

2008 I took my GCSEs, and joined 6th Form. Things changed big time partly due to the introduction of girls into an all boys school. I lost a few good friends, some of which I've got back together with, but to be honest lots of them changed to people I'd rather not know.

2009 Was a pretty weird year. I think I've become slightly more detached from my only real great friend, however I have gained more. I learned to drive, achieving (genuinely) my only life goal up to now. My dad finally got another job just a couple of months ago. And my father's family (we are all very close-knit) lost its oldest and youngest members in May and November.

Overall, I too grew up.
 
I would sit here and write my heart and soul out about my past decade, but I'd rather keep all the details to myself.

To me the summary is:

I started high school in 2000.
Did science fairs, got awards.
Did astrophysics research, met a great mentor, made connections everywhere.
Got into Berkeley in 2004.
Loved and majored in Astrophysics.
Made tons of connections at Cal.
Discovered 28 supernovae, had circulars published about it.
Did volunteer astronomy work teaching inner-city school kids.
Fell in love with my first girlfriend.
Got my heart broken by said girlfriend.
Was stressed out like nothing else.
Became depressed.
Found out I was capable of doing things during this phase I never thought I was capable of.
Picked myself back up.
Finished Berkeley.
Moving up in life starting from 2010 on.

And in all this time, Jupiter still hasn't gone around the sun. >_>

Kinda puts things into perspective huh?
 
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I forgot to add MBA from Indiana in 2008. Goal for the new decade; find a girl I love, marry her, have children.
 
2000-2006 Education, hurrah.
2006-2008 Things going badly, important stuff falling through, stuck in a crap job, had mild depression, light suicidal thoughts (don't worry folks, it gets better).
2009 Decided to screw my crap job, mild depression, etc. and put renewed effort into changing things for the better. As a result, quite good overall, new job, new city, new car, new life.

And that was my decade. In the next decade, I want a house. Then possibly a cat. After that, who knows?
 
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