I might need some life advice.

I thought about this for a while and I could not for the life of me find a answer. I don't mind stocking shelves it's as good a job as any in my mind. I don't strive for random possessions or money either, heck, I barely play video games at this point. I simply exist without any goals or ambitions and I am content with it, and that is all there is to it.

move to where? He has a part time job at a grocery store, he couldn't even afford to live in a dumpster.

#39 Posted by JazGalaxy (1190 posts) - 4 hours, 16 minutes ago

To the OP, truth be told, anyone who isn't encouraging you to go to school and make try to maximize your potential is selling you a touchy-feely load of garbage advice.

If this was a videogame, you'd know exactly what to do and probably the best way to min/max it.

Life isn't a game, but many of the same principals are applicable. You are comfortable now, but what if something unpredictable occurs? And in life, the unpredictable always occurs.

Yeah man, and tell us about your life because I bet SOMEBODY out there is gonna suggest you step your shit up a notch, bottom line is nobody is gonna please everyone, and SOMEONE is always gonna have an opinion. What do you do do you own your own business, cuz if you don't I bet you're a slacker. Don't listen to this dude he's one of the parents that's gonna be slamming his kid with the idea that if he doesn't have a 70 k school debt and is working to pay it off over the rest of his life he's unsuccessful. Even people who have gone to school and tried end up unsuccessful. It's that mentality that leads lots of inexperienced teens to try to become something they just can't be because that's what they NEED to do. We can't have a world full of FUCKING doctors man. Don't believe the hype. There needs to be people doing whatever you do, otherwise you wouldn't have a job. There are those in life that fit in every place. Doctors want to do what they do. They accept the risk of malpractice and don't mind working long hours. The president wants stress and I don't know fucking why and don't fucking care why. To each his own.

I actually do have an apartment and live by myself.

I've had weeks and months with exactly the same feelings. For me it was when I was lost in a mindless routine. Days dragged on where I didn't see any friends, and those slowly became weeks and even months of solitude and monotony which left me often questioning why I lived in the first place. After a while it wasn't that I wasn't seeing people, it was that I didn't want to. And that same idea applied to everything. It wasn't that books had lost their beauty, it was that I didn't see it anymore. I didn't really see anything properly anymore, rather I was often looking for cheap thrills or the empty comfort within the routine I had lost myself within.

I rediscovered a lot of happiness (and ultimately the life I lead today) through two things: exercise, and volunteering. I was lucky to have a friend who couldn't stand to see me wallow away into an abyss of nothing, and at a certain point he practically forced me to start going to the gym with him. While I hated it at first, it has become one of the best parts of my current daily life. There's something very primal that comes with the sense of satisfaction and endorphins after having used your body for what it was originally meant for, so I highly suggest you find some form of exercise to fit within your routine. It can even just be a walk or jog once a week, and even if you hate it, if you stick to it for a while it will become a surprisingly important and satisfying part of your routine.

The second thing I mentioned was volunteering. Now if a year ago someone had told me that I would be volunteering in the future, I would've told them to shut up and then returned to my basement to continue playing through whatever game I was stuck in. But trust me on this one, volunteering is a fantastic thing. It really doesn't matter in what way you volunteer honestly. I know people who help out for hours early in the morning at downtown soup kitchens for the homeless, and others who just spend an hour of their week in community centers reading to disabled children. I myself volunteered to coach an Ultimate Frisbee team of my former highschool, and it was some of the best times I've had in my life. The reason I think volunteering was an incredibly important aspect in getting me out of my slump is that after every coaching session I had with the kids, if it was in the sweltering heat or the cold torrential rain, I always felt like the time was well spent. After volunteering, you will never feel like you've wasted your time (if you're doing it properly). It's probably the most wholly satisfying feeling you can have.

The other reason I mention volunteering specifically to you is that in your position, not having completed high-school, if you ever aim to move on from your grocery store job (which trust me, at a certain point you will) it will be incredibly difficult to compete against others with resumes lauding their highschool and possibly post-secondary education. I know that perhaps right now you might be thinking that you'll never want to move on from your current job, but what if one day you do?

I think that these two things can help you find your goals and ambitions just like they helped me. I hope I didn't waste your (or anyone else's) time with my writings.

Well then my comment still stands. If you don't have the freedom to live your life the way you want, what are you even living for? Dealing with your mistakes and living with your decisions is what separeates adults from children. That's my life advice.

I'll put it this way:

You're existing. You aren't living.

You might not be sad or depressed or really negative at all. However, you also don't sound like someone who is particularly joyous or interesting or, well, happy. When you lay on your deathbed with no friends, no lover, no kids, and no real memories to look back on, will you still be content?

As someone who has had to deal with clinical depression, I would suggest setting up an appointment for a consultation with a therapist. From what I know, everything mentioned in the OP are red flags for depression. (And no, having depression does not mean you feel sad all the time.) Even if it is not depression, talking to a therapist can be very cathartic and help you deal with issues in a neutral environment without the emotional baggage that goes along with talking to relatives.

sounds like depression.

You should try exercise. It feels GREAT, is essentially free, and did I mention you will feel GREAT? Just do some basic stuff and maybe scratch your reps into the wall so you can see some progress bars fill up.

Books are pretty cool too. You can get them cheap at a used book store. Something to occupy the time between work shifts and whatnot. Low impact, low expectations, low investment, but pretty fun.

I'd say try dating, you sound like you need a partner.

you can't be expected to figure life out just like that. explore. then once you find something that interests you, pursue it.

Kudos, this is a great response

Don't do anything for the sake of others. This is your life now. If you decide to improve upon what you are now don't hinge it upon approval of others. Do it because you personally want to do it. Do what makes you happy.

If you are content with what you are doing now and envision yourself still contented ten years later with the same thing you do then more power to you. Otherwise, you have to work hard to be in a different status.

So... you were too lazy to finish high school, you don't have any passions in life, not many friends, and your profile picture is just a blank black background. Sounds like some form of depression.

Also I'm moving to Norway where I will start my own gas station empire.

First question that comes to mind: where are you living? If you're with your parents (seems plausible if you're working part-time), then you should be listening to them, as they're implying that they can't take care of you forever. That income seems like a lot while you're living at home, but once you factor in rent, food, utilities, etc, then you'll have a tight budget, and do you want to stock shelves for 40+ hours a week? However, If you're living independently, then tell them to fuck off (not really).

It's hard to remember some times but people like that are just trying to keep your welfare in mind. That said, it's your life and if you are content and living independently then that's your prerogative. But I wonder why you would create this thread if you were truly content. I would think you would simply ignore the comments and keep doing what your doing. Content people rarely look for advice regarding what they are content about.

Norway has a pretty high tech military, and most enlisted positions usually don't need a high school diploma, why not join up.

I mean, you already had to do a compulsory term of service for like a year and a half, right? So you should already be qualified in some kind of basic position? Unless you aren't a citizen or something

Sounds like a pretty decent situation, all told. I'm still in high school now but my goal's only to be able to make enough money to survive by myself and afford the things I want. I have good grades and could get into a decent university, but I'm heading to a vocational college instead. If you could survive off minimum wage in North America, I probably wouldn't even be going to college. I've always been an antisocial person, though. The things that make me happy (books, video games, photography, and probably travelling, though I haven't had a chance to leave the country yet) are all entirely affordable if I budget well. I don't need a car or expensive clothes, and I don't have expensive addictions like gambling, smoking, or drinking. $28,000 a year is what I'm aiming for, but I think I could be completely happy with as little as $22,000.

Just saying, how you're living isn't bad at all. It goes against the grain a bit and society might look down upon it, but there are lots of people in similar situations, and many people who'd be happy to be there. If you're content, that's really all that matters. Hopefully I'll be joining you soon.

Hmm weird, I mean I'd say at least get whatever the equivalent of a high school diploma would be over there. If only to give yourself a sense of accomplishment, who knows you might develop a taste for it. and at least it'll get your family off your back.

My personal moral view on things, is no matter how selfishly, self absorbed, hidden away, miserably, content, thriving, surviving, etc you live your life it doesn't really matter as long as you do what you can to leave the world, your country, your community, your work, your family, hell somebody else's life better off than when you entered it. It doesn't have to be mind boggling achievements, but all the same if you manage that, then your life was worthwhile.

And remember this, we Barely need people to work warehouse jobs, or stock shelves as it is, in 10 years you might be shit out of luck if you don't advance your skills at all.

In addition to depression, you're starting to sound pretty detached. Being content isn't the same as being happy. If you're happy, fine. If you're content, hey, whatever floats your boat. But just because your boat floats, doesn't mean it's going anywhere.

@simplexity: The only think I'd be worried about is how much you're sleeping. Having little energy likely means you're really out of shape. You should do some sort of exercise. Going for runs is great exercise and a great way to clear your head. It's pure hell at first, though, assuming you're as out of shape as it sounds, so you need to just stick with it.

Besides that... as long as you're not sucking down government benefits then do whatever you want.

Do whatever makes you happy....within reason of course. I did 'nothing' for a while and it was awesome, I still had a few hobbies that kept me occupied, I just loved being able to just relax and take my time after copping a bit of flack from teachers/family while I was at school.

I don't understand people who say they get bored when they don't have a job or class to go to, not having a go at anyone in here of course it's just completely different to how I am. If I am given nothing to do then I'll find something to do, I don't remember the last time I honestly thought to myself 'I'm bored and there isn't anything to do'.

So just do a bit of exploring in your valuable time off, because you'll eventually find something you'll like and maybe you'll like it enough to continue building on it.

Again though, as long as you're happy and as long as it is all within reason...just don't kill anybody please

This.

You can still do what you want to, but you still need to finish high school or get a GED at least. It will be more to your benefit than not, and you'll be glad you did in the long run.

to be honest I'd be kinda woried to..the fact that ur content with this seems like theyre deeper issues your not adressing, then again I'm no1 to pass judgment or make statements of something I know nothing of but if your honestly content with the way your living then be honest with them about it.If you don't tell them what you think about it they'll never know..let them know your fine where your at in life I still however feel like your family is only coming from a good place an a lot of the time we push peoples opinions aside when we should try considering that maybe they could be right..it doesn't mean you have to change who you are or give up how you like to live but maybe you could modifiy it just a little an who knows you may find it was even better then before..

Trust me I'm the product now at the age of 25 of having had your attitude to life back when I was 17. Felt like I was set and like being on easy street playing video game and only needing a part-time job for life was going to be awesome.

It's really not mate, I recently pulled myself out of this rut and got myself a proper direction and I have to say, as awesome I thought life was going to be playing games in all my spare time, I now find it very hard to talk with people where before I used to quite confident and sociable, I live in my room more than I'd like to because my friends circle isn't big enough that I always have someone to go and do something with.

As a consequence when I climbed out of my rut and got out of my boring comfort zone I found myself smiling and laughing for the first time in a long time. I mean I hadn't realised how little I even smiled anymore due to my own stupid decisions of the past.

I mean I've bounced from one job to the next just to sustain a low quality of "life" that I once worshipped the idea of having. So since I hate my current job, since it's basically the same job as all my last few jobs and the same tasks over and over, day in and day out, I'm now veraciously pursuing a survival instructor, personal trainer and scuba diving qualification and learning to drive too. YES THAT'S RIGHT I NEVER LEARNED TO DRIVE when I was 16, I couldn't be bothered, I figured that I was just going to become instantly rich one day and I didn't need to learn to drive because I was going to be driven everywhere by a chauffeur in my big old fashioned 1910's style car! LAME, LAME, LAME!(I mean what a fucking idiot I was!) I've dropped down to 190lbs and that's with lean toned muscle so I've lost more bodyfat than it sounds like and that's from 252lbs of bad health and mostly made up of bodyfat etc, etc... You don't need to know the rest, all I'll say is that while it might seem cool now, what's cool now can only be cool to you personally for so long before you get bored of it and either move past this phase or simply keep doing what you're used to, which is what I chose to do and is more likely for most who took my path will do. You'll find that if you plan to do something that may lead to change and/or improvement in life quality if you've been going in the direction you're currently going that you consciously or sub-consciously RESIST doing this new thing.

For me it was the scuba diving, I booked a set of classes, paid a deposit of £25 and then just couldn't be bothered to go... Self-sabotage because I was literally addicted to my little shell of a life and the boring, sad emotions that I needed to feel to know that nothing was going to go wrong or be hard for me to do.

I go for the analogy these days that if you're not moving forward in your own life then you're standing still while everybody is moving past you, and they're moving past you to the degree that you're moving backwards and like me you may one day find that you're so far behind that you're going to have a very hard time catching up.

While it sucks, I made this bed and I'm sleeping in it till I deserve to get a better one.

Get out and challenge yourself while you have no commitments, I regret having no commitments or achievements deeply now, it hurts and I can't believe that I let myself get to 25 and not have attained something I'm truly proud of.

One thing's for sure though, now that I'm on the other side of this viewpoint nobody is able to work as hard as me or keep up with me becuase I know what inactivity does to you and what some people consider your spirit of life or whatever, I know what it's like to let that just drift away from me. So again, if you aren't moving forwards then you're moving backwards.

Learn from my mistakes and ACT, for tomorrow I may die. (Just a few things I repeat to myself on a daily basis that I feel like you could really use.)

Use this site to force change, the larger the money amount the more likely you'll change and do what it is that you need yourself to start doing. Stikk.com. And make the stake for your failure to achieve desired outcome of efforts a larger sum of money than you can ever afford to manage, like $7000. Sets a bit of urgency in you off if you've got somebody else telling the site that you've done what you told them and the site that you'd set out to do and achieve. Get them to change to the password and memorise it themselves so you can't go in and cancel the commitment if things get a bit close.

Most people's "life advice" is just self-serving bullshit meant to either pay them dividends in the future (such as if you got wealthy and became more useful to them) or rationalize how they are living a better life than you (such as by explaining how important it is to be bilingual, which is laughable). The shittiest part is that they think they are doing you a favor by telling you how much "better" your life could be if you worked 40 hours a week, spent a crapload on useless consumerist bullshit, and started raising a bunch of babies that do nothing but cry/piss/shit.

Furthermore, our society is potentially only decades away from reaching its technological singularity, and most people are still running around chasing suburban dreams like "the perfect 9-to-5 job", "a nice house", and "cute little grandchildren". How clueless people can be thinking this world will continue to exist in its present form and planing their entire lives around that notion, and then going around telling other people to do the same.

People can be real idiots.

What do you propose, that everybody just stops and sits around doing nothing all day?

The human world has always been about to fall apart, heck our race has been close to extinction in prehistoric times and the reason we are the dominant and huge race that we are today is because we kept on keeping on and striving for betterment. Sure the human race is nowhere near star trek levels of excellence yet but is striving for excellence not better than basically stating: "There's no point to life because it's so hard so we might as well just give up and sit around doing nothing all day as of right now!"

I'd rather try and live and have fun in what time I have left, especially if, as you say, my time is limited. And just because I work hard it's more so I will one day work easy. For example I'm training to become a scuba diving instructor and master so I can move to a hot country and work 5-7(more likely the former) hours a day doing something I love, is that not a goal worth working hard for?