Hmm...only thought that I have is why does it really matter what you were like 20 years ago? You can't go back, that's for sure. And I agree with you - all of those things you're talking about are due to the PTSD. Let's face it, if you didn't have PTSD you probably would have goals and confidence, so treat the PTSD first and you'll eventually get those things back. And I'm sorry, but I don't think it's an age issue at all, since I know plenty of 20 year olds with no goals at all, and plenty of 70 year olds that do have goals. I DON'T know many people with PTSD that have long term goals....because how can you concentrate on anything else until you've fixed yourself to a point that that becomes feasible?

I've come very far (even if I do say so myself) in the last few years, but really, it's been by LETTING GO of who I was before all the crap happened. I will never be that person again. And that was darn hard to do, by the way; because I really liked who I was before PTSD.

I also found that the more I babied myself the better I felt - which allowed me to start to examine some of the things I wasn't willing to before. I'm not saying to do nothing for the next few years, but there's nothing wrong with NOT having big goals for a little while.

I don't think it's such a bad idea to just plan for the immediate future - i.e., managing your PTSD symptoms with more accuracy. You'll probably find one or two that you have a hard time beating...for me it's sleeping. But taking care of the other ones that you can reduce or get rid of will help make your life easier. Then you'll find it much easier to see a future with 'real' goals, because you'll have less to worry about. Just my two cents. :)