Random Life Stories and Unpredictable Moments

I’m just so overwhelmed. I’m sick of English, math, civics, stem, Spanish. In every class I’m stuck with work and I’m just so confused all the time. It’s only the second week and I’m already stressed out and just can’t handle this anymore, it honestly is making me suicidal?? I feel myself scratching at myself for longer periods of time and doing it on purpose. Not even that I’m itchy but it just feels good to hurt myself?? I don’t know it’s just I can’t understand math and it’s making me feel like a failure, I’m already in a “special class” but it wasn’t doing jack. And my parents are going to divorce and it’s just small things piling and it’s making me just lose my mind. I’ve already told my mom but she won’t do anything to help me so I’m just.. so over my life at this point I was begging my mom not to go to school and I know damn well it’ll just make things worse. My head hurts so bad. And my throat just keeps tightening..

And I have a big state testing going on soon and I’m having 4 tests and quizzes next week and it’s really making me want to kill myself. I’m just so sensitive that everything puts me off.

ok so I think my sleeping problems might be getting worse

I've always, and I mean ALWAYS had trouble falling asleep at night.

But now, that problem has multiplied tenfold, and now I'm finding it hard to stay asleep if I manage to fall asleep, and then once I'm up, I'm up, there's no hope of going back to sleep.

Normally I'd ignore it and think it was normal, because trouble with sleep just is for me.

But it used to be that I'd go to bed at, like, 8:30 PM (EST) and fall asleep at like half past 10 PM (EST), but now it's I go to bed at 8:30, fall asleep at, like 1:00, wake back up at like 2:30 and am awake for the rest of the night.

Literally I can hardly focus as I'm typing this, autocorrect has been my best friend lol

but Im worried how it'll affect me in school, because I've never lost this much sleep over the span of three days.

its also affecting me getting to school in the morning, I've been more at risk of missing the bus lately because I just cant get out of bed. I try with my outfits in the morning, even when I'm tired, but tody I'm so freaking tired my outfit it a hoodie and leggings, and the leggings have a hole in the leg.

and on top of all this, I didn't see my best friend this morning and now i'm worried.

[Translated from Spanish. Reminder: IIWIARS is English only]

I feel like I had a good day today. I felt clearheaded as I reflected on the nature of my relationship with my father, which until recently had been extremely tangled—and therefore problematic.

My father lives with his partner and her daughter, and I live separately. There’s a sister I know nothing about, and my mother is a shared figure between us whom we both have essentially discarded due to her abusive behavior and controlling tendencies. My father still interacts with that whole group—except with me. Our interaction is practically nonexistent.

He lives with that pair, has to work with my mother, and I have no idea what kind of relationship he has with my sister. Essentially, my father carries a heavier family load than I do, on top of working and studying. As for me, I don’t have much of a family context. I work and explore creative outlets. In that sense, I assume I have more flexibility, though I don’t waste time either—unlike him. Our reflections come from different modes: his from contrast with a loaded family routine, and mine from being detached from such a routine. In the end, it leads us to the same thing.

My father provides financially—he pays for my housing and gives me money for small luxuries. I, on the other hand, cover my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner, house cleaning costs, snacks, and personal entertainment. In that way, we’re even.

We both stay in our own spaces—he in his academic bubble, and I in my freedom. I’ve left behind the academic setting as a symbol of discarding the past, while he reclaims it by investing in expanding his knowledge. Both of us, in our own ways, have tried to break away from the events of the past. However, things resurfaced after a long period of imposed silence.

That silence stemmed from problems with my stepmother. Contact resumed when I began expressing things I hadn’t voiced during that time. After that, my father started controlling me through opaque conditions, designed to avoid disapproval on either side and to prevent conflict. Eventually, I stopped playing by those rules, to the point of disrupting the family structure—just as he had once disrupted my principles of freedom and personal growth. That led to a kind of balance: he and I have both suffered the same, so now we can approach each other with both caution and independence. From this, I conclude that I’m safe and sound in regard to this relationship.

Being able to visualize this long-evolving dynamic in an organized way gives me the clarity to approach other relationships that I now need to study more closely.

Now, I’m approaching a young woman. She’s in a misogynistic relationship—against her will—trapped in a group dynamic that pushes her to stay, even though it benefits only her partner. He retains dominance because he hasn’t been subjected to guilt or rejection like she has. She’s had to face rejection from both families involved in the relationship, while he remained accepted by both. She reached out to me over a year ago, seeking a transition—a way out of that group and into something with me. And I believe we’re making progress. Based on my observations, that relationship is doomed to end over time. I feel hopeful, knowing she’ll be safe and free to grow. And I’ll have the honor of witnessing the evolution of a masterpiece—human freedom and diversification.

I used to think her relationship mirrored the one I had with my father. But it turns out to be the opposite. In her case, she fought hard to maintain the relationship and ended up rejected by both families. In my situation, I fought for justice against the abuse from both my mother and stepmother. I didn’t necessarily depend on my father’s support, though at times he offered some. In the first case, neither of us were accepted. In the second, I wasn’t. That part mirrors her story. But I wasn’t fighting to keep the relationship with my father—I felt that relationship was already safe. If I go deeper, in the first case I was defending my father from my mother’s abuse, which even he couldn’t justify. In the second, with my stepmother, the conflict began because I wanted to prevent her from interfering in our relationship. In that sense, the girl and I are similar.

When I reconnected with her, after her ordeal with the two families, she was conditioned into blind obedience to her partner—much like I was with my father. She expressed this openly, and like me, she got involved in activities that exercised the mind and helped her move forward. That happened with my support. With those experiences, I began to take back ground that had been dominated by her partner—just as I had done with my father. And so, she ended up under my influence, although I never ruled out the possibility of her reconnecting with her partner. So maybe it doesn’t make sense to say I helped her leave that relationship—she had already left, even if I was physically beside her.

Then, once I regained those points of influence, the only thing left for her was to stop letting her partner control those same points. But that doesn’t happen just by distancing—it takes initiative to reclaim them. That’s how autonomy is achieved. With my father, I reclaimed those points and then learned how to hold influence without using it—creating balance and empathy. With her, the goal would be for her to reclaim influence and apply it to her partner, to reach a similar empathetic point. That would create enough separation to finally end that relationship. This reclaiming process could be seen as her learning from my way of doing things.

So now the question is: When will she decide to take that step? Should I wait for her? What do I do in the meantime? Based on this reasoning, she needs to take the initiative. That’s why the question arises—and that’s why I must wait. But since I have no idea what her current situation is, I also need to assume she’s not present. So I must continue with my life as if she’s not there, because I lack the context. I don’t know when she’ll reclaim those points, or under what conditions.

At this stage in my life, I can’t factor her into the equation. I have to assume she’s no longer part of it. There’s no continuation—nothing more to do for now. Any thoughts I have about her current life would only be speculation, born from assumptions that don’t belong to me. And it’s precisely from that place that she must begin again, if she chooses to.

Tonight, my brother invited his girlfriend over for dinner, which turned out to be an unusual evening. My family, being Taiwanese, typically uses chopsticks at meals, and this standard practice was at the center of tonight's drama. This was the first time I was meeting my brother's girlfriend, who is Caucasian, and without thinking much about it, I handed her a pair of training chopsticks while setting the table.

She seemed puzzled at first, then politely thanked me and didn’t make a further comment. I proceeded to finish setting up the table and didn't think much of my action. As we sat down to eat, my sister, who is 19, asked my brother's girlfriend if she had ever used chopsticks before or if she would prefer a fork instead. That’s when the girlfriend revealed, "I'm actually pretty good with chopsticks! I just got handed the training ones for some reason." Suddenly, everyone turned to look at me; I could feel all eyes on me at that moment. All I could muster was a bewildered response stating it seemed like "a logical assumption.”

Feeling the awkward tension, my mom quickly intervened, fetching her regular chopsticks. The dinner continued, but the atmosphere had changed. Later, my mom pulled me aside to quietly express her displeasure. She mentioned that my action might have made my brother’s girlfriend feel unwelcome or under assumption, pointing out that it was embarrassing and urging me to be more considerate in the future.

Imagine if this whole situation played out on a reality show. Picture the cameras zooming in as everyone’s gaze shifts towards me, the slow-motion replay of my confused girlfriend's expression, and the dramatic music as my mother retrieves the regular chopsticks. The viewers would probably be split; some might sympathize with my naive presumption, while others might cringe at the faux pas. No doubt it would make for an engaging episode, filled with awkward dinner scenes and family dynamics, sparking debates and social media buzz about cultural assumptions and personal sensitivities.

Hello everybody,

Recently, I became the owner of my maternal grandmother's house, a generous inheritance that felt like winning the lottery. This beautiful home, located a mere hop from the city outskirts, is a perfect sanctuary for my husband, our two children, and myself. Considering our combined income, purchasing a similar property would have been an impossible dream due to the sky-high prices in the real estate market. We're both careful with money, but sometimes, even careful planning isn't enough to compete against such a tough housing landscape.

My half-sister, Mia, shares the same father as me, and we’ve maintained a close, supportive relationship over the years. Recently, Mia secured a job in her dream field right in the bustling city center. Despite the job's appeal, the salary isn’t enough to cover city center rents, and commuting from farther away wouldn't make financial sense either.

When Mia asked to move in with us while she got established, it seemed like a great solution for everyone. She was enthusiastic about contributing to household chores and mentioned she’d be saving money to move out eventually. I was happy to help by offering her the guest room.

Mia has been living with us for about a month, busily settling into her new position. Until now, everything ran smoothly. Occasionally, I would need her to assist with family responsibilities, such as preparing dinner or putting the kids to bed on nights when my husband and I were delayed at work, and she managed well.

However, a recent incident created some friction. Our youngest child fell ill at school and needed to be picked up. I couldn't leave work immediately due to severe train delays, and my husband was unreachable. Since we live just five minutes away from the school, I texted Mia, who was working from home that day, to see if she could help out. Her response was that she’d try to manage it after her meetings ended. This upset me because it seemed she wasn't prioritizing an urgent family need.

I asked her to explain to her boss that this was a family emergency and that she needed a short break to collect her niece, making it clear she could return to her tasks right after. Mia retorted that her workday was still packed, and she couldn't spare time for unexpected childcare duties.

Our conversation escalated as I reminded her of her promise to help around the house, to which she countered that she wasn’t just free labor. Currently, the atmosphere at home is strained, and I feel stuck in a difficult position.

Imagine if this family tension played out on a reality show. The reactions from audiences would be intense and divided. Some might sympathize with the pressure Mia feels juggling a new job and familial expectations, while others might praise or criticize my insistence on immediate family support during emergencies.

What do you think? I want other opinions to help me...

I have this neighbor, who constantly assumes it's okay to dump her child on me at the most inconvenient times without any prior notice. She appears to struggle with her role as a mother, particularly as she's on the older side and still has a 4-year-old at home that she seems unable to manage. Her son is quite spoiled and doesn’t understand the concept of boundaries.

Every time she spots me outside, she doesn’t even bother to ask; she just sends him over to my place and assumes I’ll take over. It’s reached a point where they both would just walk right into my house if I didn’t respond quickly enough and the door was left unlocked from the inside. I’ve expressed my discomfort with her behavior, but occasionally, she still leaves things on my kitchen counter without permission.

Just last week, she pretended to have a severe migraine which she claimed turned into a concussion. She called an ambulance, but even after the medics assured her she was fine and hospitalization wasn’t necessary, she insisted. Then, she casually informed me that I would need to look after her son for the evening and the following morning, including dropping him off at kindergarten, before leaving her child crying behind her.

Then, just yesterday, merely two days after another draining episode, she had the nerve to ask if I could feed her son dinner because she "couldn’t be bothered" as I was on my way out. I refused, and she responded with a harsh stare before retreating into her house, muttering about how she’s always there for others, yet no one seems willing to reciprocate.

Am I being unreasonable for refusing to cater to her whims concerning her child, or should I be more understanding?

Imagine if this situation were part of a reality show. The cameras rolling as my neighbor blatantly oversteps boundaries could either paint me as a villain for not helping a struggling mother or as a victim of her irresponsible behavior. The audience might be split. Some could sympathize with my desire for personal boundaries, while others might argue that community support is crucial and I should be more accommodating.

However, is there not a limit to how much one should be expected to intervene in someone else’s parental responsibilities, especially when taken for granted so explicitly?

Sabotage eh? Was planned all along? Don't complain if my work is wrong what I was taught wrong all along?

Vent. My mom's going on a diet to loose weigh (and She's becoming slightly obsessive and weird about It, but whatever. It's her choice and i'm assuming She made her research) i'm also overweight, probably around her same weight (90/95 kg) and she wanted me to follow her on this diet ( to which i said no. Multiple times.) and to install a calorie tracking app. (She says she didn't but i'm not deaf and i ain't dumb. She often changes her words last minute when She realizes She upsets someone) I didn't really have a way to answer since She was fast about It and i installed It to supporto her. But honestly I want nothing to do with this. I like to cook and i want to eat what i'm in the Mood for. Plus i'm honestly not in a good headspace for this. There's a lot going on right now. I'm overwhelmed and burntout from school. Really tired. Struggling with sleep and Hygiene and workload and productivity. I'm working on building a nice space for myself, forming good habits, taking care of myself and creating a routine to study and have good grades. Plus. It's a fact. I like to eat. I like to cook. And sometimes i'm so low, exhausted and stressed out that my comfort foods are the only thing keeping me together. I don't want to be unsupportive but i'm so tired of hearing her talk about this. She's been talking about non Stop for weeks. And i'm not headspace to try It or even listen to her anymore. I'm so done. But now i feel so evil for snapping at her.

I never thought I’d be the kind of man to ask myself this question. I’ve been married for fifteen years. We’ve built a home, a life, four amazing children together. I’ve always believed we had something solid, something real. But lately, I can’t ignore the feeling in my gut that something’s changed. That something’s off. It’s been two months now, and I can’t shake the tension that creeps into our everyday moments—the small silences, the distant looks, the texts she doesn’t let me see. I feel like a stranger in my own home sometimes.

It started subtly. A few late nights here and there. She’d say she had errands or wanted to get some time to herself. Which, fine, I get it. She’s a mom of four, she deserves space. But the pattern grew. Now it’s late night “drives,” phone calls she takes in the other room, messages she replies to with that tilted screen thing like she’s trying to shield it from my eyes. When I ask who it was, she gives short answers. Vague ones. And then changes the subject.

She used to tell me everything—how her day went, the people she talked to, little random things she saw online. Now, it feels like I have to beg for a conversation. Half the time, she’s scrolling on her phone or texting someone while I’m talking, nodding along distractedly. And the phone, man… it’s never out of her reach. Not even when she showers. Not even when she sleeps. She used to leave it lying around, no big deal. Now it’s always face down or tucked into her sweater pocket. And maybe I’m just being paranoid, but that stuff adds up.

What’s worse is that I can’t even talk to anyone about it. I can’t exactly go around asking people, “Hey, do you think my wife’s cheating on me?” It feels like betrayal just to say it out loud. I haven’t told my friends, and God knows I’d never bring it up to our kids. They’re still young, still looking at us like we’re the example of love and stability. I don’t want to take that away from them. Not unless I know for sure. But not knowing is driving me insane.

I’ve thought about going through her phone. I haven’t yet, but the temptation is there. Late at night, when she’s asleep and I’m lying next to her staring at the ceiling, wondering if the woman I love is lying to me… I think about it. About just unlocking it and seeing for myself. But then I ask myself—if I have to do that, hasn’t something already broken? Even if there’s no affair, the trust is already crumbling. I don’t want to be the suspicious husband. I want to believe in her. I want to believe in us.

But she’s not the same lately. There’s a coldness sometimes. Or maybe it’s just a distance. We don’t laugh like we used to. The inside jokes, the little gestures, even intimacy—it’s all changed. It’s not just less, it’s… different. Like she’s somewhere else when we’re together. And when I try to reach her, she puts on a smile, tells me she’s tired or stressed, says I’m imagining things. Maybe I am. But maybe I’m not.

I’m not perfect. I know that. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve been distracted, I’ve taken her for granted at times. Maybe she’s feeling unseen. Maybe there’s someone else who’s making her feel special, who’s giving her attention I stopped giving. And that possibility wrecks me. Not just because I’d be hurt, but because it means I failed her. Failed us. I keep thinking back to how we used to be—how we danced in the kitchen, how we made plans for the future, how we looked at each other like there was no one else in the world.

Now I look at her and I see someone who might be keeping secrets. Someone who still kisses me goodbye but doesn’t look me in the eyes. And I don’t know how much longer I can live like this—trapped between doubt and denial, wondering if I’m losing her day by day and just too scared to confront it. I don’t even know what I’d do if she admitted it. I don’t know if I’d leave, or if I’d try to fix it. I just know that the silence between us is getting louder.

So yeah, I don’t have answers. Only questions that eat at me every day. Is she cheating? Or am I just afraid of what it means if she’s not but still doesn’t love me the same anymore? I don’t know which answer would hurt more. All I know is, something’s wrong. And I’m terrified to find out what it really is.

My (now ex, I suppose) girlfriend had a really bad day at work, and is expecting things to be bad tomorrow.

She was texting me about it, just talking about her day like usual. It was getting close to bed time. During a break in the texting, I took a shower and brushed my teeth.

While I was doing that, she tried to initiate sexting. I didn't see it because I took a shower. I replied as soon as I saw the messages. I missed them by nine minutes total.

I answered her, and apologized, explaining that I was in the shower. No reply for an hour. I was a little worried she was upset, but figured she just fell asleep. I sent a goodnight text and told her I was going to bed, wished her sweet dreams, all the usual stuff.

I get a long reply a few minutes later, saying, in short, that because I wasn't there for her, she hit up one of her reddit friends to sext instead.

I asked her if she was being serious, hoping it was just some kind of joke. We have explicitly discussed that we would be monogamous, and it just seemed really out of character for her.

Come to find out, she had sexted with this guy a couple of other times lately when she couldn't sleep, and she felt like I had disrespected her by "ignoring" her texts.

We talked a little more. She seems to think this isn't a big deal at all and doesn't understand why I am upset about it.

I don't understand. She couldn't even give me ten minutes before she assumed I was ignoring her and ran to somebody else for attention? I asked her if she had been drinking or something because this is really not typical of her. She said she hasn't been drinking.

So I guess three years together doesn't mean anything because I missed a text by 9 minutes, and she was clearly doing this stuff before now.

I told her I couldn't talk about it anymore tonight and that I'm going to bed, and that I'll text her again when I get up if she still wants to talk.

I can't sleep. I don't know if I should laugh or cry. This is so ridiculous. Part of me is hoping she's just making this up to make me feel bad for missing her message, but that's equally strange behavior coming from her.

Things have been going well between us. We were just looking for a place together last week. This is insane.

I still love her, but I don't think I can just move on and pretend this didn't happen. It's "just sexting" but I know exactly how she would respond if things were reversed. She would never forgive me for it.

I don't think I can just forgive her either, but I know something must be really wrong, and a lot more serious than just work stress.

Or maybe I just don't want to believe that I've been a fool.

No one is this family respects my boundaries like tonight I said I dont want my cat going out in the dark and they let him out anyway! So cool to not respect a simple request that has been said over and over! Ive already lost one cat because of her doing that and if I loose him Im just going to be stuck with a dog I dont connect with and wishing I was just a bit more pushy

so last year I had a friend Katy. She's really clingy and possessive over me and last year it got to a point where it was kinda suffocating. At that point I started distancing myself from her. Now, second day of school, she's in my lunch block and I don't really want to sit with her at lunch, I wanna sit alone and listen to music. But I don't want to upset her so idk what to do.

I'm 15 and recently became sexually active, I thought it was okay to not use condoms because I'm on the pill but I found out I've been taking my pill incorrectly and I'm now scared I could be pregnant 🤟

My intelligence is in decline, and it shows through my dropping grades and my sudden inability to form a single thread of rational/coherent thought, nonetheless converse properly with others. This might have been because I withdrew myself for the past few years, isolating myself from all social contact like a fool because I couldn't handle relationships anymore and pitied myself for being part of a broken home---it might've been because all the pain I felt back then messed up my brain.

I can't think clearly anymore, and my head feels stuffy all day every day; it doesn't stop. I've said so many hurtful things to this girl I recently came to care about, because I didn't realize what I was saying as my brain short-circuited every second and automatically rushed to the first (and often inappropriate) thing that came to mind. I'm so frustrated with myself right now. Before my withdrawal I used recognize and manage people's emotions really well and be able to navigate my interactions with others with a degree of emotional intelligence; now I'm simply an airhead who's too stuck up in the clouds to concentrate on her words.

I also used to excel in school and was basically the "smart kid" in class. Now I've built up a reputation of holding her head in front of the whole class, crying, "I'm sorry; my brain is short-circuiting"; stupidly staring at her textbook with a blank stare when the teacher asked her to answer a question about what we read; and responding to "What American history topic do you want to write a poem on?" with "Bloody Mary."

I went to a doctor last November in search of answers, and it was confirmed that I had an iron deficiency (but not anemic yet). I took pills regularly afterwards, but even now that my iron levels are in normal range, I still experience brain fog. I told my doctor about this, and it just seems everything points to a mental problem. Yet I can't check with a psychologist because of circumstances that can't be helped. I can't do this anymore. I feel like an utter failure and feel so alone right now.

Hello! I'm Caralia.

so I've been in therapy since 2nd grade. like holy shit, we know it's been a while. I have (diagnosed) minor depression and major anxiety. I used to feel refreshed and gleeful. now i just feel overwhelmed and pissed when I vent about my problems. If you check my profile and my other stories, you'd understand why I have a therapist. anyways, back to my current problem. therapy used to make me feel energized and happy, but now I only feel exhausted and aggravated. since i'm a minor, everything I tell to the therapist is like ammo to tell my parents. I fucking hate it. don't get me wrong, i love my therapist. she's a great woman. i think therapy like lost it's benefits so i've been trying this out. I'm naturally a pessimistic person, but i am always smiling and being nice to everyone. i'm outgoing and social, but like sometimes i feel like 25% of me is like... faked?? idk i'm crazy. Love you guys.