ARE YOU HAPPY WITH HOW YOUR LIFE HAS TURNED OUT?

post=212566
I can't say that I'm entirely happy with how my life has turned out. I'm still dependent on my folks at age 20, have never had a job or a car (or even the legal documents required to experience such a privilege), watched as my friends moved on and started going to college and their jobs while I sat in my room and watched the world go by. They had the nerve to complain about their jobs, while all I can say is "hell, at least you have something to live for."

But you know what?

Reading all that has been written in this thread, my problems just sound like some little piss-ass emo kid complaining that his parents took his cellphone away.

I know where I want to go in life and nothing is stopping me but myself. Independence is my first priority and I'll be damned if I don't obtain it. In order to have this I'll need a couple of things:

1. Driver's license and a car
2. More education than what I currently have
3. A job that pays well enough to rent an apartment and pay for the things essential to live

These three main things can easily be mine in less than a decade and, let's face it, I'm still young. I've still got time.

I read this post and felt that parts of it truly resonated within me, and how I am currently living my life. Although I do have my own car which is technically my parents' since they haven't titled it over to me, and they also pay the insurance - but I am responsible for refueling it, changing the oil, and proper maintence whenever something goes awry. Fortunately, I do know what I want to do with my life and I'm enrolled in college to make it all happen.

I wouldn't claim that I am happy with my life and, while usually I would agree with being content, that isn't neccessarily true either. But I don't like to sit in my high chair and mope about how difficult of a trek my life has been when there are people who aren't able to celebrate the same privelages, rights, and freedoms that I do on a daily basis. There's still a lot that I would ask to be different, though, and it's primarily who I am which I'm not comfortable with. Besides procrastinating too much, I usually feel a major lack of motivation to complete anything that I know is an important life step. I have never had a job, I don't have many people who I would consider to be friends, and I have never had a girlfriend, ever - not even a friend who is a girl(yes I am making the distinction here.) My biggest character flaw is an overwhelming lack of self-confidence, even if I'm not gifted from an aesthetic or physical perspective, I do have the choice to feel better about myself.

Looking at my current state, I can't help but to think about the future and what it has in store for me. First and foremost, I need to create some independence and hightail it out of this shithole that I currently reside in. With as dependent of a person that I am now, I look fearfully at the prospect of it being any other way, and how I could possibly fare in the real world and its cruel intentions. At least I do have the will to make the progress, even if I do have a slow start, I know that it won't hold me back forever - in fact, it can't. I've essentially hit my own rock bottom, and where else do I have to go but up? Okay, I could go sideways...but there isn't much space down here.

I'm not trying to generalize the forum goers here, but one reason that I feel comfortable on this forum and ones that cater to similar interests is that my story is essentially the status quo for more people in them than anywhere else. I can read and empathize with a lot of what has been said, and it is a great relief to express myself and vent it all out right now. It's not like any of you know me, anyhow, and it's been pent up and repressed so much that it wears me down.

No. There's always things I could've done better. I don't think I'll ever be truly happy, and that's why I make as much free time as possible without sacrificing a reasonable livelihood.

I didn't notice this earlier, but...

post=212058
Really: I just have a great deal of trouble dealing with average things a great deal of people take for granted.

For example; smiling, expression emotion face to face, eye contact, idle chatter... Basic social behaviors that's second nature to most people. On some days, certain acts are far harder than others for no discernible reason.

At school, it was frequently embarrassing to ask for help as someone who was painfully shy. On one such occasion, a cute girl was grudgingly forced to help me with some math problem. I feigned understanding of the subject just to end the humiliation. Ho HO! Women were/are sure repulsed by me.

Oh boy, that reminds me of every instance I class where we did the obligatory "GROUP EXERCISE" where you were forced into groups of 4/5 people. OR EVEN BETTER, where you were given the free choice to join any group you want; but since you were that freak nobody likes - you had to be PUT on a group by the teacher... publicly. Like the fat kid at dodge ball, only not fat.

I still live with my parents.

I am not only a Virgin; but the last friendship I had with a women was in the third grade. I have never kissed a woman, nor have I held one's hand.

Everything that I quoted from this post truly spoke to me, because I can readily identify with it and there's a certain amount of solace in knowing that I am not alone.

I have an easy job
I can make rent while still playing lots and having a good time
My GF tells me that my wachamacallit is bigger than average

I would have liked to be more prominent in the Quake mapping and modeling community but darn that Forge and Minecraft, and Xbox Live.. just too many distractions!

Is it a crime to say why you're happy with your life? I guess not.

I've been teaching English in Japan for over 5 years, and slowly have gotten sick of it. My current job (for teaching English in Japan) is really good and I'm really appreciative that I have it, but it's not a field I got into because of my love of it.

So this fall I applied for graduate school in Tokyo. I got in and will study Political Science (in Japanese) starting in April of next year. It will mean no sustainable income, and perhaps living with my in-laws if I can't get enough scholarships, but it's a productive step.

I hope it will lead to a job in Japan where I feel like I am making a difference (my thesis proposal was on comparative analysis on immigration policies in Japan and the EU), and then eventually the ability to get a PhD somewhere in Europe (Spain or Germany?).

I also love my wife, which is more important than anything else I mentioned. She rocks.

post=213304
Happiness is relative term,if you aim high, you will never be happy,

get outta here with that. it's stupid NOT to aim as high as possible.

post=213527
Is it a crime to say why you're happy with your life? I guess not.

I've been teaching English in Japan for over 5 years, and slowly have gotten sick of it. My current job (for teaching English in Japan) is really good and I'm really appreciative that I have it, but it's not a field I got into because of my love of it.

So this fall I applied for graduate school in Tokyo. I got in and will study Political Science (in Japanese) starting in April of next year. It will mean no sustainable income, and perhaps living with my in-laws if I can't get enough scholarships, but it's a productive step.

I hope it will lead to a job in Japan where I feel like I am making a difference (my thesis proposal was on comparative analysis on immigration policies in Japan and the EU), and then eventually the ability to get a PhD somewhere in Europe (Spain or Germany?).

I also love my wife, which is more important than anything else I mentioned. She rocks.

This is it. This is the happiest guy. But then he'll realize Poli Sci is like one of those useless majors. Good luck with that, buddy.

post=213565

But then he'll realize Poli Sci is like one of those useless majors.

That's not true. There are plenty of job opportunities with that degree; it is not a clear cut as studying a vocation, but it doesn't mean that it is a dead end path. Just because it is not a ~~ hard science ~~ like your majors doesn't mean that it isn't worth anything.

Unrelated to the above argument, there is nothing wrong in majoring in a "useless" field as long as you are aware of the challenges and can be comfortable with the idea that you are going to struggling after graduating.

I was thinking about sharing, but I decided not to but kudos to anyone that did.

To that I'd say, "enjoy living at the poverty line".

please, poor people are miserable and everyone knows it.

bahleted