The future's bright

When I first started my phd project many moons ago it was all so new and
exciting and I set out with the idea that I was going to change the world
(or at least come up with something useful to lessen the suffering of
generations to come). In reality this didn't happen (although someone
somewhere might find my work interesting one day, if only to stop them going
through the endless repetition of experiments that I went through). The
problem I now have is that, as much as I try to ignore it, that same feeling
of setting out to change the world keeps popping into my head. I can't help
wondering if every time I start a new project I'm going to have the same
ideas only to spend the next 3 years banging my head against a brick wall
and begging for funding to try something else (but I shall save the joys of
funding and contracts in the hallowed halls of academia for another post).
For now though I can't help feeling just a little bit excited!