Goals for the future?
The story
I’m 18, I’m a guy, and I have no damn clue what I’m doing after this. People keep asking me about my “goals for the future” like I’m supposed to pull out a clean little answer from my pocket. I dont have one. I don’t know what to study, because every subject feels like a trap. Pick tech? Cool, AI is eating that. Pick art? AI is eating that too. Pick writing, design, coding, business, anything creative, anything office-related? Same story. I know people say, “AI won’t replace everyone,” and maybe they’re right, but it still feels stupid to plan my whole life around jobs that might not even exist in a few years.
I also don’t know if I want a family. Sometimes I think having someone and maybe kids could be nice, like there’s a real point to all this boring grinding. Other times I look at adults around me and think, wow, alot of you look tired as hell. I’ve seen couples who love each other but barely talk because bills, work, stress, and life turned them into roommates. I’ve seen parents who clearly care about their kids but also look like they want to vanish for a week. I’m not judging them. Life is hard, and people do their best. But when someone asks me if I want that future, I don’t know what to say. I can’t even decide what to eat half the time, and I’m supposed to know if I want to raise a whole human?
The thing is, I’m not lazy, at least I don’t think I am. I’ve worked small jobs, helped family, tried to be useful, tried to make plans. I had teachers tell me I was smart, and I had others look at me like I was already wasting my life. My freinds seem to be moving in some direction, even if they’re faking it. One wants to study engineering, one wants money, one wants to move away, one just wants peace. I want peace too, but peace isn’t a career. I want to beleive there’s something I’ll find and care about, but right now it feels like everyone is just pretending certainty is normal. Maybe confidence is just a costume people wear so nobody notices they’re scared.
I guess my “goal” is to not completely screw myself over, wich is not exactly inspiring. I want to stay healthy, not become bitter, not waste every day scrolling, not end up stuck in some miserable enviroment where I hate waking up. I want to learn something useful, even if I don’t know what that is yet. I want to meet people who aren’t fake, maybe love someone, maybe not, maybe have kids, maybe never. I don’t have a neat answer, and maybe that’s fine, but it still feels like shit when everyone acts like I should. So what are you supposed to do at 18 when the future looks open, but also kind of empty? Maybe I’ll figure it out definately, maybe I won’t, but I’m tired of acting like being lost means I’m broken;
