The upside to never being satisfied....

A SpeedBlog response from Sarah Farraway

I put the advice 'enjoy every stage of life' in the same basket as 'treat every day as if it's your last'. All sounds good in theory but in reality - not possible, or even desirable.

I mean, who can treat everyday as if it's their last? If I lived my life like that I'd be a lazy bum who never finished school, got a degree (or a job), did the washing up or the grocery shopping. I sort of feel the same about 'enjoy every stage of life'.

I've never been happy with where I was. I have always lived with one foot in the future - daydreaming impatiently for the day to arrive when I will be living exactly the life I want to. Of course, with age I have worked out that day will never arrive and I will always be seeking and wanting more. But is this bad?  I don't think so. Some people will think it sounds as though I never enjoy a moment or have any fun. That's not true, I have fun all the time. But the fact that I am never satisfied has given me focus and discipline and I believe is the reason why I have achieved everything I ever set my mind to.

There are downsides of course. I am hideously impatient and I’ve never been able to enjoy a night out as much as my friends (I can only have a good time up to the point where I start thinking about what I’ve got to do the following day….). But I like having a goal to work towards, even if it keeps changing as mine have a tendency to do.

I’m curious to see if having my first baby later this year changes this lifelong aversion to living in the moment. The ever-present needs of a new child and having wanted to be a mother for a long time may conspire to force me to live in the here and now.

But I think it’s just as likely I will start planning for the next baby…or finishing my degree….or buying my dream house, or something……

Sarah is living, working and studying in Sydney with her partner and 3 1/2 children.