What should I have achieved by age 35 ?

Of late, I have been really short of ideas for this blog…just been writing random reviews of books I randomly read, and movies I randomly watched…

Today, Times Online provided me with some grist for this post – a list of what goals women supposedly aspire to reach by age 35.

So, here goes the list (according to Shane Watson of the Times – hope he is not the cricketer):

• Been head-hunted for a new job – Yes, headhunted several times and a decent scoring percentage too 🙂
• Been taken to lunch by your boss – Yup. Must admit though this was a highly overrated, extremely unenjoyable experience that I would not like to repeat. Highly unlikely, since the boss then is not boss now !
• Been on a business trip abroad – Couple of near misses. Strange that every time I am scheduled to travel, recession / cost cutting / project deadlines have conspired to see that this never happens.
• Lived abroad – Yup…yay! So far, I am not doing too bad at all !
• Bought your own flat – Does it count if hubby buys flat in my name? I also contribute occasionally (when asked to) for the monthly payments.
• Been bought jewellery by a man – Yup…thank you hubs ! One thought though…how can this be termed any kind of achievement ?
• Socialised outside your age group – Do toddlers count ? I have lot of such friends primarily due to availability of chocolates in the fridge and my generosity in distributing them to all.
• Hatched a plan for your own business – Umm…no, I thought this would be something I do close to retirement 😀 … would a long-cherished dream of opening a library count ?
• Successfully negotiated a pay rise – No 🙁 negotiated couple of times, never very successfully.
• Discovered your signature style – Does blue jeans, shirt, bright lipstick, and high heels count as a style ?
• Discovered the importance of women – Umm…sorry ? what exactly is the metric used to measure this goal ? (Ha..ha very strong manager-speak here !)
• Established a shoe collection – Hah, this I did before I hit my twenties only !

And that’s it ! The end of the list. Is that all we should have achieved ? As my ex-manager would say, “I think, we need to set the bar higher” !

Surely, most of womenkind would have somewhat achieved all this. Or if they didn’t it was a choice not to.

Ultimately, not sure if I like the idea of creating lists and ticking of your goals / so-called achievements. Where is the pleasure of spontaneity then ?

Btw, if this list makes you feel glum, check out this one – a list of stuff women should have done by the age of 25 – probably one of the more superficial lists out there (or is that merely sour grapes, on my part ?)