Things you're doing in your life right now that would sound bonkers if you told anyone, but make sense to you....

[HundredsOfTinyWillies]

I'm currently stalking a man in my neighbourhood because I love his dog. I've bumped into this man and his dog twice. I've started going out at the same-ish time and walking the same-ish route in the hopes of meeting him his dog

I have a whole imaginary world in my head where I'm a former supermodel now living a quiet life in the countryside. When I'm pottering around doing household chores, I pretend Louis Theroux is following me asking me probing questions about my tough childhood and stratospherically successful career.

I plan retirement every single day. I model different scenarios with different levels of income. I look at properties in retirement communities a lot. I'm 40.

I would never say these things out loud to another human because they make me sound absolutely bonkers. But there it is.
Tell me your weirdness that you could never verbalise...

I’m also micro-dosing retirement OP. I’m going down to a 9 day fortnight so that I can launch my side-business (hopefully to be main business) after the summer holiday. I’m a bit less fantasy scenario than you, more quizzing ChatGPT about income and savings and paying off mortgages.

What makes a dog stalking-worthy, out of all the other local dogs?

I plan how I would spend a thunderball win of half a million probably more often than reasonable.

I also narrate my life but as me like in a book.

Volunteering to canvas for a political party I am ambiguous about because I want to be friends with a woman who goes to a social group I attend, who also asked me if I fancied going along with her to leaflet drop. My Dh thinks it’s Hilarious.

I often daydream about travelling by wagon train with a group of mums and their families who I know because all our children have disabilities. In my dream the children all blossom with the gentle pace and outdoors and community. In reality this would be utterly unworkable as most are too high needs or would just find it horrifying. It’s a good thing I am not rich I would just try new crazy schemes all the time.

I have 2 main 'falling asleep' daydreams. One in which I have won the lottery and fantasise about how I am going to live. Two in which there has been some sort of disaster nearby (a plane has crashed etc) and I am the one who leads the rescue attempts and saves the day.

Ridiculous I know - although I have had some first aid training!

I just did a spin class while planning on starting my dog sitting business when I retire. I was fully planning on giving up my corporate job to earn 1/10 of my income per day by letting dogs sleep over at my home and taking them for walks. But only about 10 weeks a year in case I want to go on holidays myself, so now my planned income is down to less than 5% of my current earnings. That's how much I am hating corporate life right now 😆 😢. Oh, and I was singing along to the music in the spin class, and yes it was a real in-life class not online.

I look at horse for sale websites even though I haven’t been in a horse in 20 years and barely have time to sit down for half an hour and could never afford one. I also look up cleaning companies regularly even though I’d never have the guts to get one in. I’m also a retirement dreamer (only 20 years to go lol!!)

I'm very frequently, in my head, on the telly being interviewed about my new book.

I plan retirement every single day. I model different scenarios with different levels of income. I look at properties in retirement communities a lot. I'm 40.

Same, although I'm late 40s. I have a spreadsheet for pretty much every imaginable variable.

Planning retirement in Thailand.

When I can’t sleep I imagine what I’d do if there was a mass shooting. Actually even I find this one weird, I assume it does something to soothe my nervous system by like planning for the worst but it works 90% of the time.

Oh and to get to sleep I have a very long-running story about an apocalyptic event and how life is going for the survivors. I've got us all in an abandoned caravan park being self-sufficient and having dramas.

I'm going by a different name because a neighbour called me that name and I didn't correct them and now too much time has passed and it would be awkward. Easier just to go along with it.

To get myself to sleep at night, I imagine I am being interviewed on Desert Island Discs. I go off onto a long reverie about why a particular track reminds me of a time in my life, lost love etc, and then try to go there in my dreams.

I’m writing a song to give to my favourite artist to record (haven’t written any of it yet).

I’m also planning my retirement in Wales, in an eco cabin I’m planning to build out of recycled stuff. I spend a lot of time looking for land by the sea… the song will fund this project.

The first time I saw her, I made very brief eye contact and smiled at her as I walked past. Her tail started going like the clappers so I said "Aw, hello, you're lovely". She came waggling over, nuzzling me, doing little happy growls, then straight on her back for belly rubs.
As she walked off with her owner and his other dog, she was leaping up at his legs doing these little happy yaps. It really felt like I'd absolutely made her day.

The second time I saw her, she recognised me and made her owner cross the road for fuss.

She's a tiny staffy who looks like a piglet.

I love all the local dogs. But she's really special.

Some of these are hilarious.

Ditto - I'm surprised ChatGPT hasn't staged an intervention by now with the number of chats I've started about my finances 😅

@HundredsOfTinyWillies

I plan retirement every single day. I model different scenarios with different levels of income. I look at properties in retirement communities a lot. I'm 40.

I do this too and I am slightly under 40. I'm frequently told I am obsessing about old age, or that it is too early to plan, but I think it is sensible. I'm going to be on my own for old age (I have no family) so I think it is sensible to plan and it helps alleviate some of my anxiety about it all too.

I do this with a couple of people at work (not people who need to know my actual name) - to be fair I have a tricky name, but I get odd looks and occasionally questioned by people I actually work with. I'm completely used to answering to a couple of completely different names from people who just greet me and make small talk and I honestly don't care, in fact in an odd way it pleases me.

To pass the time on long journeys I have won the top prize on a game show and have to pick a number between 1 and 5. This corresponds to cars going the opposite way, so if I've picked 2 then I win the second car. I have to assess all 5 cars to see if I've picked well, or am disappointed with an old banger. I sometimes have to look down at my lap for a few minutes so I have not cheated by seeing the first car in the distance.

I neither drive, nor have any interest in actually being on a game show or winning a car.

I have found my people!!

I regularly look at million pound homes - with a seperate wing for my mother of course that I can buy in Edinburgh and London of course … once my tv show I have written ( I have not even started) takes off. I’ve even casted he show in my head.

Meeting my husband was a pure fluke, we’ve been married nearly 50yrs but I (nowadays) regularly wish we’d never met & wander down the different routes my life would have taken instead.

Omg same 😬