Is Life Really All That?

[Liquidshokk]

I know it's only just turned 2011 and we're meant to be looking to the year ahead in a positive mood hoping for positive things, but despite being fairly comfortable in life and having not ever gone without much I can't help but come to the conclusion at 27 that life is in fact overrated and actually pretty sh!t.

 

Now before I'm put on suicide watch or people tell me stop complaining cos my life could be so much worse let me just say that I know all that and I know i haven't got it bad. Yet I still think that everything everyone thinks is good in this life isn't actually all that amazing IMO (even the "best" things).

 

One aspect of this is the balance between the amount of time working and the amount of pleasure time we have and how the pleasure in my case is never worth the effort put in to achieve it.

 

Every "thing" each of us wish we could have, someone has and has come to acknowledge it's not actually that great and could live without it. Even jackpot winners don't seem all that happy once they've got used to having the money.

 

Life is hard going with everything we worry about and how hard we have to work to survive. I question whether it's all worth it.

 

I do wonder if I'm the only person who thinks life is overrated and whether it is because I am a single 27 year old guy in an IT job without any kids, marriage etc or whether people who have all this feel the same!?!?

 

Discuss.

 

Thanks.

[Essruu]

You miserable c***. You should just Kill yourself.

[skintsaint]

give all your stuff to charity and devote your life to helping underprivalaged people. Might make you appreciate how good your life is at the moment.

[Thedelldays]

Give all your belongings to charity... And live in the country... Litterally

[Johnny Bognor]

I know there are all the cliches regarding life such as you only get out what you put in, you're only here once and it is not a dress rehearsal, but life is very much what you make it.

 

Your comments regarding work are true (i.e you spend enough time working) which is why you should either do something that you enjoy or work for an employer where you feel valued. If anyone is in a job where they don't at least like what they are doing, then change jobs/career.

 

If you feel the way you do (and many do feel this way), then it is time to make changes.

 

Seek happiness and you shall find.

[Saint137]

This is not an uncommon feeling amongst IT pros in my experience (20 years in the industry). We're constantly at the cutting edge of the new, constantly running to stand still with our skills (much more so than if you're an electrician for example) and pretty much in service to others. The stuff we support tends to be **** and we tend to be reactive rather than proactive, and due to the complexity of systems absolute slaves to Murphy's Law.

 

Tend to be under-appreciated at work and what we do, whilst it runs the world, doesn't feel particularly important. The company I used to work for has over the last 18 months got rid of around 100 IT staff and of those the majority have looked for something more fulfilling - when I took redundancy I looked at nursing, teaching and charity work and would be doing one of those now if I hadn't happened to get my current job almost by accident. Its still not fulfilling but its low impact, 9-5, no weekends, close to home (previously had a 2 hour commute to Reading and back), and pays enough to have a comfortable existence. I guess that's the point for me.

 

What I've learnt over the last 5 years is that all that's important is your health and the health of those you love. With health comes the ability to be happy. The saying should really be "Health, Happiness, and Wealth". When I was your age (I'm 40 now) I focused on the material things - fast cars, world travel, gadgetry, eating in expensive restaurants, etc. I did all this stuff alone and it eventually became utterly pointless. As a petrolhead you soon realise that all cars are basically the same and all a constant pain in the arse. Travelling becomes a tick list. Photography (my other passion) becomes stale and uninspiring particularly when the great sites of the world are fully documented from every angle. Consumerism can never be fulfilling and you do question the point of spending 40-odd hours of your life a week paying for your addictions.

 

So what changed things? I think the same as it is for most people - met someone I love and stopped worrying about me. Gave me a sense of purpose, re-ignited ambition, and made me look beyond the next football season/round of new gadgets/holiday, etc. Being in a relationship is a rollercoaster - there are times when I want to get off and say never again but most of the time you feel really alive.

 

If you were a bird I'd tell you to read something like "Eat, Pray, Love". That's a manifesto for changing your life and working out what to change it to. If you're unhappy as you currently are, change something. If you don't know what to change, change it all. You might think you can't give up your job, but if you're not a slave to consumerism you can. Go volunteer in a 3rd world country for a year. You'll get fed, get out of the pressures of Western society, and it will look good on your CV when you return, if you return. Cut your life down to the basics, switch off the internet, and go and sit on top of a mountain. After a week or two your current concerns will slip away. Think of it as a reboot for the soul.

[View From The Top]

I love my life but then again I'm very happily married with three wonderful kids. I also have the added bonus of a professional career I love and a very profitable small business.

[saintscottofthenortham]

This is not an uncommon feeling amongst IT pros in my experience (20 years in the industry). We're constantly at the cutting edge of the new, constantly running to stand still with our skills (much more so than if you're an electrician for example) and pretty much in service to others. The stuff we support tends to be **** and we tend to be reactive rather than proactive, and due to the complexity of systems absolute slaves to Murphy's Law.

 

Tend to be under-appreciated at work and what we do, whilst it runs the world, doesn't feel particularly important. The company I used to work for has over the last 18 months got rid of around 100 IT staff and of those the majority have looked for something more fulfilling - when I took redundancy I looked at nursing, teaching and charity work and would be doing one of those now if I hadn't happened to get my current job almost by accident. Its still not fulfilling but its low impact, 9-5, no weekends, close to home (previously had a 2 hour commute to Reading and back), and pays enough to have a comfortable existence. I guess that's the point for me.

 

What I've learnt over the last 5 years is that all that's important is your health and the health of those you love. With health comes the ability to be happy. The saying should really be "Health, Happiness, and Wealth". When I was your age (I'm 40 now) I focused on the material things - fast cars, world travel, gadgetry, eating in expensive restaurants, etc. I did all this stuff alone and it eventually became utterly pointless. As a petrolhead you soon realise that all cars are basically the same and all a constant pain in the arse. Travelling becomes a tick list. Photography (my other passion) becomes stale and uninspiring particularly when the great sites of the world are fully documented from every angle. Consumerism can never be fulfilling and you do question the point of spending 40-odd hours of your life a week paying for your addictions.

 

So what changed things? I think the same as it is for most people - met someone I love and stopped worrying about me. Gave me a sense of purpose, re-ignited ambition, and made me look beyond the next football season/round of new gadgets/holiday, etc. Being in a relationship is a rollercoaster - there are times when I want to get off and say never again but most of the time you feel really alive.

 

If you were a bird I'd tell you to read something like "Eat, Pray, Love". That's a manifesto for changing your life and working out what to change it to. If you're unhappy as you currently are, change something. If you don't know what to change, change it all. You might think you can't give up your job, but if you're not a slave to consumerism you can. Go volunteer in a 3rd world country for a year. You'll get fed, get out of the pressures of Western society, and it will look good on your CV when you return, if you return. Cut your life down to the basics, switch off the internet, and go and sit on top of a mountain. After a week or two your current concerns will slip away. Think of it as a reboot for the soul.

 

Good post.

 

I'm an Electrician. I have 2 wonderful kids. A missus who is a fantastic Mum and does everything around the house. But thats because I work 70+ hours a week to pay for the f*****g house. The F*****g car. The F*****g bills etc etc etc. My job sucks great big smelly d*ck yet I'm up at 5 every morning and get home between 6-7pm doing the F*****g thing. Although I have had some bloody great times doing my job, the last 2 years I have really struggled. Like you said, it's just not fulfilling. There is literally NO appreciation for what I do by either my employer or customers. Nobody outside of the trade realises quite how f*****g much you have to know and how much thought and hard work goes into some of the sh*t we do. The problem is, now I feel trapped because I can't leave for a different avenue in life because I can't walk into anything that pays as well.

 

Meh. Yeh i'm depressed already and I havn't even got past day 1 but as said above, so long as me, my kids, the boss and my family are as healthy as can be, I shouldn't be too downhearted. Just wish I had a better way of spending 70+ hours of my waking week.

[Turkish]

I know it's only just turned 2011 and we're meant to be looking to the year ahead in a positive mood hoping for positive things, but despite being fairly comfortable in life and having not ever gone without much I can't help but come to the conclusion at 27 that life is in fact overrated and actually pretty sh!t.

 

Now before I'm put on suicide watch or people tell me stop complaining cos my life could be so much worse let me just say that I know all that and I know i haven't got it bad. Yet I still think that everything everyone thinks is good in this life isn't actually all that amazing IMO (even the "best" things).

 

One aspect of this is the balance between the amount of time working and the amount of pleasure time we have and how the pleasure in my case is never worth the effort put in to achieve it.

 

Every "thing" each of us wish we could have, someone has and has come to acknowledge it's not actually that great and could live without it. Even jackpot winners don't seem all that happy once they've got used to having the money.

 

Life is hard going with everything we worry about and how hard we have to work to survive. I question whether it's all worth it.

 

I do wonder if I'm the only person who thinks life is overrated and whether it is because I am a single 27 year old guy in an IT job without any kids, marriage etc or whether people who have all this feel the same!?!?

 

Discuss.

 

Thanks.

 

If you are posting this sort of nonsense at 2.50am on New years day you really need to get a grip.

[Liquidshokk]

If you are posting this sort of nonsense at 2.50am on New years day you really need to get a grip.

 

Despite my early morning post sounding like I'm depressed I'm actually not and comments regarding "just kill yourself", "go work for a charity" etc are unnecessary. A couple of sensible posters have picked up my wavelength quite well regarding work and the sense of fulfilment in life. Its fairly apparent that kids, marriage and job satisfaction may change the feelings I have and is something I will be looking to change in this new year.

 

My point was that without those things there really is very little to actually get "really" excited about in life as most things are a disappointment.

[Liquidshokk]

This is not an uncommon feeling amongst IT pros in my experience (20 years in the industry). We're constantly at the cutting edge of the new, constantly running to stand still with our skills (much more so than if you're an electrician for example) and pretty much in service to others. The stuff we support tends to be **** and we tend to be reactive rather than proactive, and due to the complexity of systems absolute slaves to Murphy's Law.

 

Tend to be under-appreciated at work and what we do, whilst it runs the world, doesn't feel particularly important. The company I used to work for has over the last 18 months got rid of around 100 IT staff and of those the majority have looked for something more fulfilling - when I took redundancy I looked at nursing, teaching and charity work and would be doing one of those now if I hadn't happened to get my current job almost by accident. Its still not fulfilling but its low impact, 9-5, no weekends, close to home (previously had a 2 hour commute to Reading and back), and pays enough to have a comfortable existence. I guess that's the point for me.

 

What I've learnt over the last 5 years is that all that's important is your health and the health of those you love. With health comes the ability to be happy. The saying should really be "Health, Happiness, and Wealth". When I was your age (I'm 40 now) I focused on the material things - fast cars, world travel, gadgetry, eating in expensive restaurants, etc. I did all this stuff alone and it eventually became utterly pointless. As a petrolhead you soon realise that all cars are basically the same and all a constant pain in the arse. Travelling becomes a tick list. Photography (my other passion) becomes stale and uninspiring particularly when the great sites of the world are fully documented from every angle. Consumerism can never be fulfilling and you do question the point of spending 40-odd hours of your life a week paying for your addictions.

 

So what changed things? I think the same as it is for most people - met someone I love and stopped worrying about me. Gave me a sense of purpose, re-ignited ambition, and made me look beyond the next football season/round of new gadgets/holiday, etc. Being in a relationship is a rollercoaster - there are times when I want to get off and say never again but most of the time you feel really alive.

 

If you were a bird I'd tell you to read something like "Eat, Pray, Love". That's a manifesto for changing your life and working out what to change it to. If you're unhappy as you currently are, change something. If you don't know what to change, change it all. You might think you can't give up your job, but if you're not a slave to consumerism you can. Go volunteer in a 3rd world country for a year. You'll get fed, get out of the pressures of Western society, and it will look good on your CV when you return, if you return. Cut your life down to the basics, switch off the internet, and go and sit on top of a mountain. After a week or two your current concerns will slip away. Think of it as a reboot for the soul.

 

Possibly the best post I've ever read on here, thank you.

 

I did actually have a massive clear out a couple of weeks back where I gave so many things to charity, that if I wanted to I could have got a fair bit of money for. For me it was a opportunity to be rid of possessions, which have some control over you. It was actually quite refreshing to actually come out of it without much "stuff" to my name.

 

I do need to throw everything in, in terms of my job (which doesn't satisfy me) and the cars, gadgetry and ridiculous Internet time, in which I just consume information for hours a day. I need to get away from all that and your post couldn't have highlighted that more and been more relevant.

 

I do feel trapped in my career and it feels impossible to just change to something else whilst I have a mortgage and bills to pay. I am constantly thinking about all the thongs I could be doing in my life but to be honest I just don't really have the confidence to get out there and do it. Guess my new years resolution is a biggy this year.

 

Finding a relationship is another difficult thing, not because I'm particularly ugly or anything like that but because I rarely find myself chatting to women and they don't just fall at my feet. Everyone else makes it look so easy and nearly all my friends and settled down and churning out kids. Maybe 2011 will be my year though and I'll laugh at my OP this time next year ;-)

[Turkish]

Despite my early morning post sounding like I'm depressed I'm actually not and comments regarding "just kill yourself", "go work for a charity" etc are unnecessary. A couple of sensible posters have picked up my wavelength quite well regarding work and the sense of fulfilment in life. Its fairly apparent that kids, marriage and job satisfaction change the feelings I have and is something I will be looking to change in this new year.

 

My point was that without those things there really is very little to actually get "really" excited about in life as most things are a disappointment.

 

Marriage and kids bring their own challenges. Guys like me who in the past (and still would if single) have the pick of women have to sort the wheat from the chaff and other guys (a bit like yourself i am guessing) have to settle for what they can get. Either way it aint easy.

[dune]

[Liquidshokk]

Marriage and kids bring their own challenges. Guys like me who in the past (and still would if single) have the pick of women have to sort the wheat from the chaff and other guys (a bit like yourself i am guessing) have to settle for what they can get. Either way it aint easy.

 

Thanks Turkish, kind as ever.

[Turkish]

Thanks Turkish, kind as ever.

 

no worries, by the way one of my (very fit) single female friends has said that the website mysinglefriend.com is a good place to find a woman, you need a reference from a mate though so i am happy to write you one as a football forum friend. Apparantly the people on there are more normal than other dating sites. Or if it's just emptying your sack you are up for Plenty of Fish comes highly recomended, i think even Romsey Stu has managed to get laid off of the back of that site.

[dune]

It sounds to me like you have an iron deficiency. Eat some dead animal flesh and you'll feel right as rain.

[Liquidshokk]

no worries, by the way one of my (very fit) single female friends has said that the website mysinglefriend.com is a good place to find a woman, you need a reference from a mate though so i am happy to write you one as a football forum friend. Apparantly the people on there are more normal than other dating sites. Or if it's just emptying your sack you are up for Plenty of Fish comes highly recomended, i think even Romsey Stu has managed to get laid off of the back of that site.

 

I can only imagine how that reference would go and the zero responses I would get. That's not a cue to show me. Not after just an emptying of the sack. I get that every day from madam palm and her stunning daughters.

[Liquidshokk]

It sounds to me like you have an iron deficiency. Eat some dead animal flesh and you'll feel right as rain.

 

Those vitamins I take daily must be fake then.

[Deppo]

It sounds to me like you're spending too much time posting on this board. You need to get out there and experience other things. Have you tried posting on The Arts or the Motoring Forum?

[dune]

Read this article Liquidshokk, remmeber you're British, and pull yourself together.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/7300768/Has-Britain-lost-its-stiff-upper-lip.html

[Whitey Grandad]

Good post.

 

I'm an Electrician. I have 2 wonderful kids. A missus who is a fantastic Mum and does everything around the house. But thats because I work 70+ hours a week to pay for the f*****g house. The F*****g car. The F*****g bills etc etc etc. My job sucks great big smelly d*ck yet I'm up at 5 every morning and get home between 6-7pm doing the F*****g thing. Although I have had some bloody great times doing my job, the last 2 years I have really struggled. Like you said, it's just not fulfilling. There is literally NO appreciation for what I do by either my employer or customers. Nobody outside of the trade realises quite how f*****g much you have to know and how much thought and hard work goes into some of the sh*t we do. The problem is, now I feel trapped because I can't leave for a different avenue in life because I can't walk into anything that pays as well.

 

Meh. Yeh i'm depressed already and I havn't even got past day 1 but as said above, so long as me, my kids, the boss and my family are as healthy as can be, I shouldn't be too downhearted. Just wish I had a better way of spending 70+ hours of my waking week.

... and then you're dead.

 

I know exactly how you feel, SSNortham, Sometimes it seems that you are carrying the whole of society on your shoulders. We are grossly overtaxed and overworked and all you get are comments like 'it's easy for you, at least you've got a job', or 'there's always someone worse off than you'. If only we could keep what we earned for ourselves, and maybe a cup of tea once in a while.

[Turkish]

Read this article Liquidshokk, remmeber you're British, and pull yourself together.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/7300768/Has-Britain-lost-its-stiff-upper-lip.html

 

an excellent article, this bit sums it up "with happiness and wellbeing high on the Government agenda, and everybody talking about issues, self-esteem and emotional baggage, we're wobbling and quivering all over the place"

 

A nation being manufacturered into a bunch of whinging, self indulged pansies as demostrated on here by 18 year old Supermikey and his me time and 27 year old Liquidshock asking if life is overated.

[dune]

If only we could keep what we earned for ourselves, and maybe a cup of tea once in a while.

 

I agree entirely with this. That is why I have right wing Conservative ideologies and despise Socialism with a passion.

[dune]

an excellent article, this bit sums it up "with happiness and wellbeing high on the Government agenda, and everybody talking about issues, self-esteem and emotional baggage, we're wobbling and quivering all over the place"

 

A nation being manufacturered into a bunch of whinging, self indulged pansies as demostrated on here by 18 year old Supermikey and his me time and 27 year old Liquidshock asking if life is overated.

 

And i'm of the view that the last thing people with "emotional problems ( )" need is sympathatic therapy and soothing words, what they need is a kick up the arse and to be told to stop mithering. I think it's selfish and attention seeking and very un British to be all woe is me when there are people starving in the third world.

 

I think the Samaritans need people like me and you on their switchboards.

[yoda]

...the second rule of fight club...

[Liquidshokk]

an excellent article, this bit sums it up "with happiness and wellbeing high on the Government agenda, and everybody talking about issues, self-esteem and emotional baggage, we're wobbling and quivering all over the place"

 

A nation being manufacturered into a bunch of whinging, self indulged pansies as demostrated on here by 18 year old Supermikey and his me time and 27 year old Liquidshock asking if life is overated.

 

I wasn't whinging as such and was merely trying to gauge how many others, if any, feel the same way. Clearly there are reasons for the way that I see life on this crazy planet and get the feeling I'm not actually that alone on the matter. I dont deny that it is all in my hands however and I do need to get a grip. I just need a plan to work towards to make it all worth the effort I guess.

 

I did say my post wasn't moaning about how bad my life is, just that it's not, and this world isn't, all that exciting to me either.

[Turkish]

And i'm of the view that the last thing people with "emotional problems ( )" need is sympathatic therapy and soothing words, what they need is a kick up the arse and to be told to stop mithering. I think it's selfish and attention seeking and very un British to be all woe is me when there are people starving in the third world.

 

I think the Samaritans need people like me and you on their switchboards.

 

i'd be like him, only without the yorkshire accent.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTlHkzloNTg

Edited 1 January, 2011 by Turkish

[dune]

I just need a plan to work towards to make it all worth the effort I guess.

 

You seem to be into all this long haired hippy suff like vegetarianism so why don't you do something around this.

[Turkish]

I wasn't whinging as such and was merely trying to gauge how many others, if any, feel the same way. Clearly there are reasons for the way that I see life on this crazy planet and get the feeling I'm not actually that alone on the matter. I dont deny that it is all in my hands however and I do need to get a grip. I just need a plan to work towards to make it all worth the effort I guess.

 

I did say my post wasn't moaning about how bad my life is, just that it's not, and this world isn't, all that exciting to me either.

 

this is probably because you spend 99% of it in front of your computer.

[RedArmy]

What a miserable cvnt, cheer up FFS.

[Liquidshokk]

What a miserable cvnt, cheer up FFS.

 

Thank you for that valuable input. I'm actually quite Happy :-D (now the hangover is shifting).

[Deppo]

I know it's only just turned 2011 and we're meant to be looking to the year ahead in a positive mood hoping for positive things, but despite being fairly comfortable in life and having not ever gone without much I can't help but come to the conclusion at 27 that life is in fact overrated and actually pretty sh!t.

 

Now before I'm put on suicide watch or people tell me stop complaining cos my life could be so much worse let me just say that I know all that and I know i haven't got it bad. Yet I still think that everything everyone thinks is good in this life isn't actually all that amazing IMO (even the "best" things).

 

One aspect of this is the balance between the amount of time working and the amount of pleasure time we have and how the pleasure in my case is never worth the effort put in to achieve it.

 

Every "thing" each of us wish we could have, someone has and has come to acknowledge it's not actually that great and could live without it. Even jackpot winners don't seem all that happy once they've got used to having the money.

 

Life is hard going with everything we worry about and how hard we have to work to survive. I question whether it's all worth it.

 

I do wonder if I'm the only person who thinks life is overrated and whether it is because I am a single 27 year old guy in an IT job without any kids, marriage etc or whether people who have all this feel the same!?!?

 

Discuss.

 

Thanks.

 

Remember, things could be worse. You could be Dune.

[dune]

Thank you for that valuable input. I'm actually quite Happy :-D (now the hangover is shifting).

 

How would you rate mine and Turkish's therapy? Has it made you more or less suicidal?

[Liquidshokk]

How would you rate mine and Turkish's therapy? Has it made you more or less suicidal?

 

Deppo has just changed my opinion to all of this with his last post. Life is rosey again.

 

As for being suicidal, I would never go down that route as believe it or not I do actually understand how privileged I am to live a comfortable existence with all the suffering going on around the world (I mean, think of all those foxes). Suicide is a cop out. I will just put up with life, I just won't rave about how great it is, cos, well I don't think it really is...

[saintfully]

Deppo has just changed my opinion to all of this with his last post. Life is rosey again.

 

As for being suicidal, I would never go down that route as believe it or not I do actually understand how privileged I am to live a comfortable existence with all the suffering going on around the world (I mean, think of all those foxes). Suicide is a cop out. I will just put up with life, I just won't rave about how great it is, cos, well I don't think it really is...

 

Personally I recommend going for a walk in the countryside. I speak as someone whose had two careers and who is now embarking on a third(ish) (finance to research scientist to salesman basically). My conclusion is that work is generally unfulfilling for a lot of people because its repetitive, whereas a lot of people have wide-ranging interests. Spending too much time on one thing makes life boring - my therapy is therefore to change it as often as possible, whilst keeping the endorphin levels high enough to give me the energy to do so. IMHO, the best ways to get endorphins are sex and exercise. Wa.nking dosn't count, so as a single person, its exercise for you.

 

Or take drugs for a bit and obliterate everything (tried that too and although its good for a while, I don't think its a sustainable approach in the long-term).

 

Happier New Year.

[Liquidshokk]

Personally I recommend going for a walk in the countryside. I speak as someone whose had two careers and who is now embarking on a third(ish) (finance to research scientist to salesman basically). My conclusion is that work is generally unfulfilling for a lot of people because its repetitive, whereas a lot of people have wide-ranging interests. Spending too much time on one thing makes life boring - my therapy is therefore to change it as often as possible, whilst keeping the endorphin levels high enough to give me the energy to do so. IMHO, the best ways to get endorphins are sex and exercise. Wa.nking dosn't count, so as a single person, its exercise for you.

 

Or take drugs for a bit and obliterate everything (tried that too and although its good for a while, I don't think its a sustainable approach in the long-term).

 

Happier New Year.

 

Thanks for that good post as for drugs I'm not sure that will help and in fact I hold the abuse I put my brain through during my teens recreationally partly responsible for my lack of seratonin now

[Deppo]

Have you ever thought of turning to this chap for help?

 

 

 

 

Failing that, visit this website and it's sure to make you feel better

[Liquidshokk]

Have you ever thought of turning to this chap for help?

 

 

 

 

Failing that, visit this website and it's sure to make you feel better

 

He's the last person I would turn to.

[tpbury]

If you become a father and take the role seriously, then you need never have any existential fears again! At least for 5 years or so (per child). Your role is to wake up, feed (either the baby or the mother), bath, walk, wipe. 4am is a good time to give the baby his/her teething powder. You seem to be suffering from ennui and too much time on your hands. Having a kid will sort it immediately, then you'll just have to decide whether running back to your previous lifestyle is the better option! In all honesty, stay childless coz the kids will despise you in the end anyway, that's what they do

[Jonnyboy]

Good post.

 

I'm an Electrician. I have 2 wonderful kids. A missus who is a fantastic Mum and does everything around the house. But thats because I work 70+ hours a week to pay for the f*****g house. The F*****g car. The F*****g bills etc etc etc. My job sucks great big smelly d*ck yet I'm up at 5 every morning and get home between 6-7pm doing the F*****g thing. Although I have had some bloody great times doing my job, the last 2 years I have really struggled. Like you said, it's just not fulfilling. There is literally NO appreciation for what I do by either my employer or customers. Nobody outside of the trade realises quite how f*****g much you have to know and how much thought and hard work goes into some of the sh*t we do. The problem is, now I feel trapped because I can't leave for a different avenue in life because I can't walk into anything that pays as well.

 

Meh. Yeh i'm depressed already and I havn't even got past day 1 but as said above, so long as me, my kids, the boss and my family are as healthy as can be, I shouldn't be too downhearted. Just wish I had a better way of spending 70+ hours of my waking week.

 

Cant you go self-employed?

[Liquidshokk]

If you become a father and take the role seriously, then you need never have any existential fears again! At least for 5 years or so (per child). Your role is to wake up, feed (either the baby or the mother), bath, walk, wipe. 4am is a good time to give the baby his/her teething powder. You seem to be suffering from ennui and too much time on your hands. Having a kid will sort it immediately, then you'll just have to decide whether running back to your previous lifestyle is the better option! In all honesty, stay childless coz the kids will despise you in the end anyway, that's what they do

 

I think that's always been half my problem in life; too much time to think and over analyse things. Need something/someone to keep my mind occupied.

[Jonnyboy]

Possibly the best post I've ever read on here, thank you.

 

I did actually have a massive clear out a couple of weeks back where I gave so many things to charity, that if I wanted to I could have got a fair bit of money for. For me it was a opportunity to be rid of possessions, which have some control over you. It was actually quite refreshing to actually come out of it without much "stuff" to my name.

 

I do need to throw everything in, in terms of my job (which doesn't satisfy me) and the cars, gadgetry and ridiculous Internet time, in which I just consume information for hours a day. I need to get away from all that and your post couldn't have highlighted that more and been more relevant.

 

I do feel trapped in my career and it feels impossible to just change to something else whilst I have a mortgage and bills to pay. I am constantly thinking about all the thongs I could be doing in my life but to be honest I just don't really have the confidence to get out there and do it. Guess my new years resolution is a biggy this year.

 

Finding a relationship is another difficult thing, not because I'm particularly ugly or anything like that but because I rarely find myself chatting to women and they don't just fall at my feet. Everyone else makes it look so easy and nearly all my friends and settled down and churning out kids. Maybe 2011 will be my year though and I'll laugh at my OP this time next year ;-)

 

I have this problem too

[tpbury]

I think that's always been half my problem in life; too much time to think and over analyse things. Need something/someone to keep my mind occupied.

 

Well, I didn't have kids in order to end my depression, but that's the effect they had. I became busy and exhausted all the time and had no spare time to stare up my own arse. Perhaps when they leave home, I'll get down again, but the intervening 20 years will have been a blast!

[hypochondriac]

It's worth going somewhere like Australia for a year and appreciating the world around you. That's what life is about and where you will find real happiness.

[Deppo]

It's worth going somewhere like Australia for a year and appreciating the world around you. That's what life is about and where you will find real happiness.

 

I agree. The only way to find happiness is to go to Australia.

[hypochondriac]

I agree. The only way to find happiness is to go to Australia.

 

You are extremely tedious.

[Verbal]

I agree. The only way to find happiness is to go to Australia.

 

Except for Australians. For them, the only way to find happiness is to go to Earls Court.

[saintfully]

I agree. The only way to find happiness is to go to Australia.

 

Not just any old happiness either, 'real happiness'. I've never been to Australia and so have never known 'real happiness'. Now I'm sad... but am I really sad?

 

(Cue predictable response).

[Ponty]

It's better than the alternative.

[Deppo]

It's better than the alternative.

 

If the alternative is reading posts by Hypochondriac and Dune, then moving to Australia is the way forward (as long as they don't have the internet in Australia.....do they?)