Random Life Stories and Unpredictable Moments

Have you ever felt like life is just going downhill??? That's been my vibe lately, but I'm holding out hope that things will turn around. I got this job that seemed perfect at first glance, but it's been nothing short of chaotic LOL! It's like everyday feels like an upward battle only to find myself rolling down the hill. I'm doing my best, but sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed!!! The pressure is like a constant companion, but I'm learning to take it all in stride. 😅 Life's got its tricky parts, doesn't it?!

Guess what though? Despite the struggles, I'm determined to see the silver lining!!! I keep reminding myself that every descent down the hill is just an opportunity to climb back up again with even more gusto. The ups and downs, they're all part of the journey, right? It's kinda cool to think that each slip is making me stronger in some way. I mean, how else are we supposed to grow if not through challenges??? It might be tough, but I'm ready to take it on day by day. Keep movin', keep groovin' - that's what they say, right?

But hey, don't get me wrong, I'm all about finding the chill vibes where I can. 🎵😊 I try to soak in the positive energy, listen to some good tunes, and keep the optimism alive. Maybe it's not always as smooth as I'd like, but there's beauty in the chaotic dance of things. I'm confident that eventually, all this crazy will shape into something amazing. As I continue on this winding path, I'm embracing everything with a hopeful heart, ready for whatever comes next!!! How's that for staying upbeat, huh? Keep climbing, my friend, there's always a brighter side waiting for us!!!

It was a sunny day when I first found myself under the water, feeling the panic rise in my chest like a tidal wave. Just a regular swim day, you know? But then I slipped. The water enveloped me, and for a brief moment, everything turned dark. I thought I was going to die, honestly! My thoughts just raced—what does it feel like to drown? Is it like suffocating? Or is it calm, like falling asleep? I could feel my lungs screaming for air, yet all I could do was flail and hope for someone to pull me up. Every desperate grasp for air felt hopeless, and I realized in that instant how fragile life truly is. You never think it'll happen to you until it does... right? 😨

But wait! Not all was lost, as if by some miracle, I felt a strong arm wrap around me and pulled me to the surface. It was the most incredible feeling, breaking through the surface and gasping for air! The pure relief was overwhelming. I choked, sputtered, and took in the bright sunshine that I had been missing. Suddenly, every struggle I faced under the surface felt worth it, somehow. It’s like I got a second chance, you know?! I learned to appreciate each breath as if it were my last! The water that had once terrified me now felt like a strange friend that taught me a lesson about resilience. Isn’t it funny how life throws stuff at you that you never expect? 🌊

Looking back, drowning wasn't just about feeling fragile; it was also about emerging stronger. I mean, now I look at water differently. I respect it, yes, but I also embrace it. I’ve taken swimming lessons since then, and I’m no longer afraid. Instead of seeing it as a threat, I’ve learned how to navigate through the waves! Each splash reminds me of my near-drowning experience, but it also fuels my desire to conquer my fears. So, isn’t it something? To feel new life after a near-death experience? 🌈 Do you think we can emerge stronger after facing our fears, or does it leave us more cautious? I hope everyone out there can find their path to recovery like I did! Keep swimming, because life’s currents may be rough, but we are stronger than we think!!! 💪

Me and my best friend have always been really close, and recently, we both realised we had feelings for each other. It was a really good feeling and we were both really happy, but ever since then I feel like they’ve been avoiding me to talk to other friends instead. I understand this is a big thing and it’s gonna take time to get used to this new dynamic and all, but it feels like they’ve been avoiding me, or at least trying to talk to other people instead of me for the past week or so and it just hurts because I want to talk and be with them but I can’t just make them talk to me, or tell me what’s going on.

Ever since my high school days, I've shared an incredibly close bond with my friend, Samantha. We've journeyed through life’s highs and lows together, ever since our freshmen year. Recently, Samantha entered an exciting phase in her life; she got engaged and her wedding is fast approaching in a few months. I was thrilled when she asked me to be part of her bridal party. Despite the distance, as I now live across the country, I've tried my utmost to be a supportive friend during her wedding preparations.

Earlier this year, I became a mother to a beautiful daughter who, unfortunately, faced some serious health challenges right from birth. She struggled with eating and consequently with weight gain. After numerous visits to various specialists, we were directed to a pediatric cardiologist. The diagnosis was heart-stopping; my baby girl had a significant hole in her heart, which posed a severe risk of heart failure at any moment. An urgent heart procedure was scheduled for her within two weeks.

I immediately reached out to Samantha with the devastating news, explaining my emotional turmoil in detail. However, her response seemed dismissally light-hearted, focusing only on the potential positive outcome that my daughter might start gaining weight after the procedure.

Following this, communication from Samantha dwindled to almost nothing. Instead of inquiring further about my daughter's precarious health, she requested photos from her bachelorette party. This left me feeling isolated and unsupported, especially during the subsequent nerve-wracking weeks leading up to my daughter’s surgery.

The feeling of abandonment intensified when I finally heard from her again after posting an update about my daughter’s successful procedure on Facebook. Her excuse that she had “forgotten” about my daughter's critical condition amid her wedding planning was a bitter pill to swallow. This negligence made me question the depth of our friendship.

Amidst these challenging emotions and the burgeoning medical expenses, I am contemplating withdrawing from her wedding. The thought of expending emotional and financial resources to attend an event across the country for a friend who seemed to have momentarily forgotten my plight is overwhelming.

Had this ordeal been part of a reality show, the audience might have been split. Some might criticize me for expecting too much from Samantha during her busy wedding planning phase, while others could empathize with my situation, criticizing her for not providing the support a lifelong friend should.

Honestly, I’m torn about attending the wedding. I’m trying to reconcile my feelings but am finding it extremely difficult. Would I be wrong to prioritize my family and emotional well-being over her wedding?

so, i'm 23 and yeah, i have a driving license, but i just can't seem to get myself behind the wheel. it's like there's this invisible wall that i just can't break through. i know it's kinda silly, right? like, i went through all those driving lessons, spent all that time and money, and i can't even bring myself to drive. remember when you first got your license and felt all excited and free? well, let me tell ya, i didn't quite feel the same. the whole idea of controlling this huge hunk of metal freaks me out. it's a real bummer though 'cause not driving is kinda holding me back in other areas of life too. finding a job without being able to drive? that's like trying to catch fish without a fishing rod. you basically wave goodbye to any decent job that's not within walking distance or easily accessible by public transit.

i mean, i totally get it. people drive every day no biggie, right? but then my mind keeps running horror stories of accidents i've seen or heard about. cars skidding on icy roads, narrow misses, wild road rage. it just cranks up my anxiety sky-high. people often tell me, "oh, just go for a short drive, nothing to it!" but it's not that freaking easy, you know? sure, i've tried. there was this one time i managed to drive around the block. i was like, "whoa, look at me!" but then... panic city. palms sweaty, heart racing, you get the drift. i can't seem to break through it. do you ever feel like there's just this one thing that you can't get over no matter how much you try? sharing this in hopes someone out there gets it. maybe you had or have the same fear? i've heard of others overcoming it, so maybe there's still hope for me? any tips on getting over this scare would be super appreciated. thanks for hearing me out!

Growing up my mom and my dad abused physically and emotionally me and all of my siblings. I seem to be the only one in the family who can’t stand the toxicity. 7 years ago I moved 7 hours away family continued to chase me down. (all of my family lives within an hour of each other except for my grandpa in another state) ***and recently even he admitted to making a plan in trying to chase me down to so that I would move back around my family*** a year ago I moved back in with my mom under the pretense that we were going to heal together and that my mom recently admitted she lied to me to get me to move back so that she could change me. She is disgusted that I’m Bisexual, she tells me I’m possessed with demons. I have already lost a bunch of weight since moving back and I hate it I wish I weighed more but my mom keeps trying to get me to lose more. She hates that I were makeup and take time in my day to dress myself in that way that I like I’m the only goth musically and appearance in my family and that constantly try and crush that out of me. Today my bother picks me up and starts screaming at me telling me I’m the problem in my family and that I just need to slap a smile of my face and accept things for how they are. To top that all off I’m in collage and I work and my family tries to stop me from doing school to do a bunch of labor on the property. I’m so drained. I have also been the only one in my family to get high level of care I take antidepressants, I have seen many therapist and psychiatrist to deal with all of this trauma. I am aware of my family disfunction I am not seeking advice I just need to get this off my chest in this moment because today I’m packing my things and I’m leaving tomorrow I’m going to be homeless for a bit but my peace is worth the struggle for awhile. There is so much more about the horrific things my family as done to each other and I can’t do this anymore I blocked all of my family members tonight and I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m letting go of the stress and setting boundaries and allowing myself to have the peace that I deserve.

I’m a pretty self aware person. I’ve done a lot of healing over the past few years and I’m pretty good at identifying my behaviors and all the stuff.

I still struggle to understand what are normal social things and just things you have to get over. And one of the things is the fact my boyfriend and my best friend discuss me.

My best friend told me at the beginning that when they conversate, I have permission at any point to ask and view their messages. And honestly I have no worries of any affairs or cheating.

However me and my friend got heated because she was continuing to push me on something when i repeatedly told her to stop. Long story short, there were tears and i eventually told my bf what happened.

He confronted my friend and askedwhy she was upsetting me and to cut it out, which i did really appreciate, because clearly she wasn’t listening to me when I told her to stop. And they talked about it and all, and he defended me throughout, which is really awesome, especially since I didn’t know about this, and I appreciate that I have someone who has my back even when I’m not there.

But when my friend was showing me, or at least, reading them, I asked her if I could just read it myself. And she said that it felt like a breach of privacy and joked that they talked shit about me and talk about me, which made me uncomfortable. And the fact that it’s a breach of privacy when it’s me who’s being discussed, makes me uncomfortable of what they could be talking about, because these things could be discussed with me.

I know they discussed how frustrated they were about my housing situation, and how I was being dumb about it. It just makes me not want to tell them anything, and I feel like I can’t trust what they reveal about me. I feel like their project and child, when I’m a human being who has feelings and if you feel the need to hide feeling like that and band together to discuss it, it makes me feel like they’re hiding things from me, secret feelings and gripes and I have to watch them grow to resent me or complain about me.

Is this ok? Like talking about me without me knowing? If it is then I can learn to get over it and not take it personally but if it’s not, I’d like to know, so I can share these feelings with them. Because my nervous system is telling me to never trust them with anything about me, and to leave them in the dark so they can’t use what I entrust them with, against me. But I know that it only hurts the relationship and “protects” me.

Any thoughts?

I’m currently a 32 yo woman in a stable relationship. My biggest wish would be starting a family with my long time boyfriend but we both agreed we should do that after having a bigger house of our own. Everyone around me is managing to do that (some have inherited their house from parents or relatives, others have already managed to buy one) and start a family of their own. We are currently paying rent for a small apartment and working our asses off to put away some money but house prices for a decent place (with some room for a future kid) still seem to be out of our range. I kinda feel hopeless at this point. Will I ever be able to achieve my dreams? It seems impossible to me as of now, I really don’t know what to do and I feel like my life is meaningless. I feel like I am late at life and that when we’ll be able to realize our project it will be to late for me to have a child.

so here I am, lying in bed again. 31 years old, male, and feeling like there's this weight on my chest that I can't shake off. my wife, bless her, keeps telling me to do something, anything really, instead of just staring at the ceiling. i just don't know if it's depression, or maybe i'm just stuck in this rut that's swallowing me whole. it feels like I'm trapped in this cycle of inertia, where motivation is a foreign concept and every day blends into the next without much differentiation. i wonder if it's normal to feel like this at my age? am I supposed to have it all figured out by now, or is everyone just pretending they've got their lives in order? the truth is, all I want to do is stay under these covers where it's safe and predictable. getting out of bed feels like scaling mount Everest minus the accomplishment. everything seems so incredibly daunting and exhausting even before the day begins.

i'm aware that i should probably listen to my wife; everyone says communication and action are key, but how do you act when you can't even muster the strength to care? it's like the more I think about doing something productive, the more drained I feel. the thought of tackling even the simplest task is paralyzing, and it's terrifying because it makes me question my capability as an adult; am i alone in this feeling, or is this a phase everyone goes through? should I worry about being present for responsibilities outside this room, or is it okay to take some time to figure things out? it's not that i don't want to improve, it's more that i can't envision what improvement looks like right now. why does it feel like i'm constantly fighting a battle against myself, and losing horribly? sometimes it's hard to distinguish whether this is just a temporary funk or if it's the prelude to something more concerning. does it get better with time, or does it require a drastic intervention to change? emojis don't usually cut it, but right now, i just feel like this 😞.

Unfortunately for me, I want to be a creative person full time. There's been a series of attempts.

1 - Animation

I was a grade A student in high school and took lots of AP's including AP art and design. My councilors said with my grades my state's flagship school would be a good safety school and the Ivy's where a reasonable reach. She was wrong about that and it's all been downhill from that conversation. Long story short I couldn't get into an art school with a scholarship. I went to the ONLY state school to accept me, could never get an internship all 3 years (had enough AP's to graduate early), and graduating with my degree in animation at the top 10% of my class with a portfolio reviewed by and references from 2 emmy award winning animation professors didn't mean anything to studios. I would go to networking and hiring events, portfolio and resume reviews, talk to recruiters, get referrals, even move to LA. All for 0 job offers after years of trying.

2 - Design

While I was trying to get into animation I worked a graphic design job. It didn't pay enough, especially for LA, so I beefed up my college portfolio to highlight my motion design stuff and started applying. A year passed with no interviews and I got laid off. I got a certification in UX/UI design and applied there too. Another year passed. I assure you - whatever job advice you have (talk to recruiters, send out 100s of applications, tailor your applications, ask your dad to get you a job) - I did it! Multiple times. No luck.

3 - Self Employment

Throughout this entire stint I would have side hustles I tried (and failed) to get off the ground. I tried to be a gallery artist. Sold one drawing. Had a painting featured at the High Museum of Art. Did some local art fairs (and sold nothing). Absolutely no one else ever cared about representing my work despite it. Okay. Cool. There was an online original painting business - no sales. Online art prints - 10 sales in 2 years. Art on stuff (notebooks, zipper pouches, etc.) - 7 online sales and I made money at in-person markets but never enough to break even on the booth fee. Alright; fabulous.

4 - Marketing

After my layoff year from the graphic design job I got a job as a marketing operations coordinator - so not even doing the marketing. Just fetching virtual coffee so other people could do it. I decided to lean in. If art doesn't want me, maybe money will! I learned as much about marketing as I could to apply it to a future business attempt. I got my PMP certification and applied to project management jobs. You can probably guess how well this went.

5 - Self Employment Take 4 (current)

I still work that marketing job. My company laid off everyone but me and my boss' boss. The company is in shambles so there's not really a clear job for me right now other than sending bills to accounting. So artistic. So fulfilling. If I have to talk to META customer service one more time I'm going to crash out. Since the lay offs at the job I've been applying elsewhere to almost no avail. I had 3 rounds of interviews including one with the CEO for a better paying marketing job!!! They then paused hiring. Seems both art and money don't want me. I've started another business - a stationery shop. 11 sales in 5 months - so the marketing knowledge is helping me do a lot better. But I had a collection launch today to crickets that sent me into a bit of a spiral.

THE DILEMA

I keep trying as MUCH and as HARD as I can to make my career cooperate. It just refuses to go my way. Any advice I can find online assumes I haven't tried, didn't do some obvious thing, or some empty motivational platitudes like "you haven't quit until you stop trying (like as if I don't have bills to pay)" is going to help. I've started therapy and my therapist is very helpful on everything else - but on this topic he tends to tell me to just follow my dreams. I feel like he has to watch me show up every day and sponsor events for promotion and work with influencers for marketing and post to 5 social media platforms every day and start a mailing list and start a youtube channel and read marketing books and go to webinars by my local SCORE mentors (all things I'm doing BTW) and yet still make 0 progress after keeping this up for a year to understand what I'm talking about. There is NO lack of trying - but nothing ever works. I just can't seem to be a full time creative. I can't even do plan B and make enough money for an apartment. I don't know what else to do or how to deal with these feelings. I'm always searching for some kind of solution, but the truth is it takes hard work, time, and luck to be successful and luck is just not on my side at the moment. To anyone who read all this - how do you manage to live your life knowing what you truly want isn't coming to you? How would you stay motivated in business 4 and somehow believe it's going to work after all the previous failures? What am I doing wrong? Is this normal?

Heyah👋🏻😄!!

I wanna be a Wedding Planner👰🏻‍♀️.

But I don't know the steps to do so🫠. My cousin is an event planner, so maybe I can ask her🤔?

This is the first time that I've thought seriously about the career I actually wanna have☺️🙏🏻✨. I usually just go for your basic minimum wage jobs, but I wanna seek more... And now, I have more motivation to do so🤩🙏🏻✨!!

My bestie always said that she's super excited when I get married cause I already know so much wedding planning lingo😅!! But there's more to wedding planning then just knowing what everything is, but where to get it, the budgets, who to talk to, guest lists, budgets, specific items important to the couple, locations, permits, did I mention the budget... And there's also the possibility of the Bridezillas, Momzillas, Dadzillas, Sisterzillas, Brotherzillas, Groomzillas and more😱!! I'm recently changing my college degree back to psychology specifically for this job field.

It feels like forever since I've had any motivation to think more seriously about a more stable career🥹. I understand that sometimes minimum wage is stable for some who live on their own and want a smaller living space and other stuff that I don't know since I live with my cousins at the moment. But I'm just super excited to start REALLY planning my future. I'm a little late to the party, as I'm now 24 and still on college, but I look forward to continuing this journey🥳!!

And maybe one day, after I feel more comfortable with my finances, and as a person in general... Who knows, maybe I'll find a nice person to love and get married to👰🏻‍♀️💒💍? Who knows🤷🏻‍♀️!? The future is vast and I'm grabbing Life by the horns(if life had horns) and steering my own path🫡👍🏻✨!! Wish me luck🍀!! Or break a leg(if there are any theater kids out there🧐)!!

This is it. This is the time where I become quiet, sensitive, non-verbal. This entire week has been shit. The amount of things I’ve been called, “Things I’ve been called/and/or/talked about or have over heard.

Fat lesbian

Annoying

Uncomfortable

Loud

Bitchy

Gay

Weirdo

“I fucking hate your personality.”

“I’d rather turn my wrist into a waterfall then talk to you”

“It’s not that serious”

“Why do you even care?”

“I would never order a whole pizza for myself.”

“What did you say? I wasn’t listening.”

“Oh her? Yea she’s a fucking fat lesbian.”

“Go ask her out! It’ll be funny.”

“Oh shut up I know you’re lying.”

”

Is what I just got done typing out. In ONE. ONE WEEK. Ive been called or said all of this to or about. My boyfriend is now ignoring me. Putting all of his things on me. He has no idea what’s going on and he’s been very triggering towards me. He said less then 10 minutes ago, “I’d rather sleep then make my wrists waterfalls.” And I told him that he can just go back to sleep and that he was being very triggering and then he got mad at me. I love him so so so much. I have no friends. Not a single one, I just sent this to my therapist “ I’m feeling really suicidal and I’m just finding more and more stuff out and it’s just making it so much worse. I’ve been crying all week and no one to talk to. I’m scared to go to school, I’m scared of confrontation, im scared of looking people in the eyes in the hallway, I’m trying so hard. Way too hard. I’m slowly starting to go non-verbal and I haven’t said a word to anyone since Thursday. I’m pushing everyone out because I’m afraid to annoy them or be too much, my personality has completely changed and now even Lenny’s talking about me, I feel like no one really likes me and I’m freaking out every time I’m in a class with people I know for sure don’t like me and I start going non verbal and I have been skipping class because I know no one in there likes me in the slightest bit and I’ve been skipping classes because of people in there, when I lost my earbud on Thursday I started hyperventilating and I had a panic attack because I couldn’t listen to music. I’m turning my personality completely around and I can’t stand it. I live for talking, if I could I would talk to a deaf person in sign language just to talk some more. I only ever remember me being a sweet, kind, caring, talkitive girl. I thought I was pretty, I thought I would be liked. I completely changed everything just to be liked and it all was lost. All of my achievements are gone and I have to restart. I can’t think of any other way to dress, to wear makeup, how to talk, what words to use, what slag to use I have no idea how.i want to go back to my 5th grade self when literally everyone liked me and knew who I was and loved me. I don’t even have my own small group of friends anymore.”

I’m not living for anyone now. Not even for myself. I’m a walking corpse and I can’t do anything right. I’m just here. Always in the way. I can’t do this anymore and I have no idea what to do. I wanna go online school but my parents said no. I can’t live without someone to talk to. But if I have to. I will. For everyone else’s sake.

I left my toxic 9-5 jobs to look after my mental and physical health. I was able to lose 10 kgs weight and reverse my PCOS too. However sitting at home i have isolated myself and feel none of my entrepreneur ideas will work. I see other flourishing in life. Can i do that too?

I'm usually knee-deep in work from a job that demands almost everything from me, and my partner, Alex, is fully aware of how strenuous it can be. Not long ago, I decided that it was essential to establish clearer boundaries regarding my availability after work hours. Specifically, I made it a rule not to take work-related calls after 7 pm. Alex seemed to agree with this new arrangement at first, appreciating that we could spend more quality time together without interruptions from my work.

However, last night, things took a bizarre turn. Around 8:30 pm, as we were settling down for the evening, my boss called. Sticking to my new-found boundaries, I chose to ignore the call. But Alex, to my dismay, questioned why I wasn't answering. I explained that it was part of my effort to prevent work from overrunning my personal life. Without hesitating, Alex picked up my phone and answered the call himself, telling my boss that I was "too busy relaxing to talk." I was completely embarrassed! The tone in my boss's voice was clearly one of irritation when I ultimately had to take the phone. I ended up spending the next 30 minutes sorting out work issues, a situation exacerbated by Alex's remark which made it appear as though I was neglecting my duties.

After I hung up, I confronted Alex. I was livid and explained how inappropriate it was for him to intervene in my work matters. He just shrugged it off, suggesting I was overreacting and claiming that I shouldn't feel ashamed for enforcing my boundaries around work. This whole ordeal has left me second-guessing both my boundary-setting and his understanding of it. Am I overreacting, or was his interference out of line?

Imagine if this scenario unfolded on a reality show. The drama would certainly amplify, with cameras capturing every moment of the exchange and potentially millions of viewers judging the dynamics of our relationship. Viewers might side with me for trying to establish work-life balance, or they could sympathize with Alex, perceiving him as supporting a more relaxed approach. The court of public opinion could dramatically sway in either direction, affecting not just perceptions but our relationship dynamics after being exposed to widespread scrutiny.

Was my partner's action on my work call justified?

Allogations have made me fear for my safety. If there is no proof of wrongdoing, is my safety still at risk?