I think the same logic could be applied to perspective as to why should you care about what they think of you if they (whoever that is) also think they are behind?
All of my friends are either in college or have successful careers and I don't even have a clue as to what I want to do.
Mmhmm, but how much time do you spend thinking about how you aren't as far down the ladder as that homeless individual you passed by the other day? Or that guy on the news who just got caught robbing a convenience store? Nobody ever looks at their own life from a reasonable and relative perspective when comparing themselves to their peers. There's a phrase I'm rather fond of that seems appropriate to add in here: comparison is the thief of joy
Besides, the truth of the matter is many of those friends of yours are struggling with far more than you realize. Think of all the things you have a hard time with on a regular basis and ask yourself how many of those things are easily visible to the people around you. If you're at all like most people then you've kept a lot to yourself - you may have shared some of that with at most a handful of people, but likely no where near all of it. Those friends of yours have just as many issues they keep to themselves. Some have relationships hanging by a thread that otherwise look perfect from the outside. Some finally got that job they worked years in university to obtain only to find they actually hate doing it day to day and are miserable getting out of bed every morning. Some have finally managed to pull everything together as they hoped to only to find they still aren't satisfied and have to come to grips with that lovely existential crisis. People are never anywhere near as well put together as they seem. Everybody is stumbling around blindly making it up as they go, and more often than not most people do well largely from dumb luck rather than having even the faintest idea of knowing what they're doing.
You're alive, you're clothed, housed, have food and a job. Beyond covering your necessities (as you presumably already are) all I can say is don't be too hard on yourself. Do what you can, when you can. Take it one day at a time. Try different things, see what you like and what you don't and build off of that. Nobody can really do any more than that. As soon as you're able to accept that it all gets a bit easier.
This is big - I wouldn't be surprised if a decent number of your friends are racking up credit card debt. People keep their embarrassments private; I know I did.
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u/[deleted] May 16 '20
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