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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

In 5 years , if your life was exactly the same as it is now , would you be happy , content or sad?

119 replies

LamAcA · 19/02/2023 00:10

Content for myself

OP posts:
Auldfangsyne · 19/02/2023 07:40

I'd be delighted.

Sadly, I know my mum is very unlikely to be here in 5 years so I'm making the most of her now.

I love my job but I think it will be quite different dynamic in 5 years - I can feel people are getting restless and ready to move on.

Eldest child will just be hitting the teen years and I think I will be in for a rough ride! I will likely be entering perimenopause. Double hormone hit!

2crossedout1 · 19/02/2023 07:40

Happy from my own point of view but sad for my DC. In five years my three teens will all be young adults. They'd be gutted if they were still living at home and none of them had got a job or passed their driving test!

PrimrosesandPears · 19/02/2023 07:42

Happy but utterly exhausted. I have a baby and a toddler who don’t really sleep, I don’t think I could keep up this routine for 5 years! But my life is very good and happy otherwise.

DimplesToadfoot · 19/02/2023 07:43

Extremely sad. With a little bit of luck I'll not live for another 5 years

Nimbostratus100 · 19/02/2023 07:44

well, that couldn't happen for me, because I am on a brutal chemo regime that you couldn't survive for years on end.

Im definitely on a transitory stage of my life, transitioning back to reasonable health, or going the other way...

If I knew that in 5 years I would be back to the life I had 6 month ago it would be a dream come true!

Pyewhacket · 19/02/2023 07:45

Happy 😊

User18936572 · 19/02/2023 07:47

Dunno, can't see that I will live that long

houseargh · 19/02/2023 07:48

Disappointed, though sad is too strong. DD is two, doesn't sleep great and we still haven't managed to get back into any kind of routine of seeing friends sans-toddler, and I haven't done my hobby since before she was born. All completely reasonable for this stage (especially given a house move, COVID delaying things etc) but if this is all still the case in five years then I will definitely feel like things could be better

TheOldLadyOfThreadneedleStreet · 19/02/2023 07:49

My DCs should be growing up and leaving home in the next 5 years so I’m expecting a quieter, less hectic life in 5 years time. I’ll miss them but probably best that it happens, so I’m happy about it. I expect work will be much the same.

TeenDivided · 19/02/2023 07:51

I'd be sad because it would mean that neither of my DDs had recovered from their illnesses. I'm hoping that in 5 years they are both around and about living their lives to the full.

WuTangGran · 19/02/2023 07:51

Sad. We’ve been living in Australia for the last 17 years and we’re planning to come home to the UK in July. If we’re still in fucking Australia in 2028 I’ll probably kill myself. It’s a cultural desert full of racist bogans. We want to spend our retirement walking the fells and eating cake in NT tearooms.

byvirtue · 19/02/2023 07:52

Extremely thankful, I’m in that sweet spot now, adorable 4 year old, good marriage, healthy parents, lovely home. Great hobbies and friends.

Peak contentment, there is always that nagging voice telling me it won’t last forever and to savour it whilst it lasts, which I do.

VanillaSox · 19/02/2023 07:52

Despire stresses I am currently under I am way happier than I was years ago! So yes -happy

itsgettingweird · 19/02/2023 07:56

Good thread and question!

I'd be happy and content.

My mum dies last year a few months after retire,ent and it's really out what life should be like into perspective.

I'm enjoying life now - nothing else matters.

FiveShelties · 19/02/2023 07:57

Happy. I am 66, married 40 years in April to a lovely kind man, gorgeous dog and a good lifestyle. I am very lucky and very grateful.

Another five years like this will be fantastic.

YouJustDoYou · 19/02/2023 07:57

Content and happy, finally.

itsgettingweird · 19/02/2023 07:58

I might add I've come out the other side of 7 years of hell. So if you'd asked me that question from 2015-2022 I'd have answered differently!

WiltingLobelia · 19/02/2023 07:58

Sad I think as I am in a rut. But actually I think I will be worse off- elderly parents are now needing help although they live on the other side of the world. DH has in the past few years become more homebound and curmudgeonly so I see that getting worse.

I am having a hard time seeing much positive about my life as things are now much less 5 years.

Fairislefandango · 19/02/2023 07:59

Generally happy. But my life won't be the same in 5 years, because my dc are 14 and 17, so one will most likely be away at university and the other will probably have left home. Ddog will almost certainly not be still alive, which will be very sad but will simplify life in some ways.

If both my parents and PIL are all still as they are now in 5 years I'll be very happy, but it's not that likely at thrir age, especially as it looks like DM may have the beginnings of alzheimers.

TitInATrance · 19/02/2023 08:01

Interesting question - I’d be contented and happy to be approaching 70 and still doing the things I love. My life is as I want it, but the next 5 years will bring changes for the people I love which will affect me whether I like it or not.

Datchat · 19/02/2023 08:03

Sad...it's been a tough year and I'd like to think I'd be on an even keel by then, it worries me at the moment even thinking about tbd future.

AliasGrape · 19/02/2023 08:14

Content

Good marriage, amazing DD, good friends, enjoy time with family although sadly have already lost far too many of them, I like my job, enough money just about and DH, DD and I are all in reasonably good friends.

Content is great. I’ve been through some really bloody hellish times in my life and this is very much the ‘better days’ part for me. But I’m also very aware that things can change very quickly,
I guess because of previous experiences I’m
never totally free of the ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop feeling’.

I say content rather than happy because I definitely need more sleep, I was hoping to learn and do more in my job which was a recent-ish career change and I hope to progress, and whilst in some ways I’d love to keep dd my ‘baby’ (toddler) for ever, I’m really looking forward to getting some balance and time for myself/ for DH and I as a couple back. Oh and I’d definitely like another dog within the next 5 years, though I’m not ready yet after loosing our much much loved boy.

DangerPigeon · 19/02/2023 08:14

Initial reaction is sad, which has made me question why, what will be different and what can I influence and change ... possibly this is why I'm sad as I think most people and situations around me will be the same. This is going to play on my mind now, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if I think up some ways to break out of the rut.

Can2022getanyworse · 19/02/2023 08:17

I'd be bitterly disappointed.

I'm this close to paying off my mortgage. Kids late teens and hopefully moved out in 5 years. Current chronic medical condition blighting my life but should recover in next couple of years.

Hoping to get married again in the next 5 years after a very long living apart relationship.

Last year was pretty horrendous. I hope in 5 years things are much easier.

WonderingWanda · 19/02/2023 08:17

The next 5 years is what I have been mulling over in my head a lot recently. I currently feel a bit aimless and in 5 years one of my dc will be at University age. I am left wondering what I want from my life? I feel a bit fed up with my career but have no interest in anything else, I need something to aim for but have no idea what that is. I am generally happy now but can see that I will slide into being a bit miserable if I don't find some new purpose soon. I might need to start a thread of my own for some inspiration.