(title doesnt make sense lol but to explain)

Im 17 and this is so weird, every time I've been called attractive/cute, or in relationship, anything, they're some sort of fan of stray kids, and generally say I look like one of them, every single person that I've met, and its so weird, because the people that I'm friends, nothing romantically with, don't listen to that artist. It's so creepy, because I dont think anyone relates to me

I lost my inner monnologue January. Wondering what are people thoughts on this. Ask me anything

I'm free 80% of the time but of course once I'm offered one thing, two other things pop up for the exact same time. But instead of wallowing in my misery of only being able to do one of my (literally) five other things I was invited to do or that were limited to this weekend, I am eating an apple pie.

That’s all I wanted to say. I don’t matter. Something is wrong with me and I’ll never find happiness. I can’t do anything right. I’ll never have my happy ending. Life sucks

I (26M, single) graduated with a BSME back in 2021 and was desperate to land a job so I could pay off my student loans. I applied anywhere and everywhere. Thankfully, I ended up landing a job and accepting the offer! It was the highest paying offer I had at the time and the job sounded cool with a lot of upward trajectory.

Here's some more context:

• It was located in the Midwest (I am originally from the east coast)
• I went to college in my home state and have never lived anywhere else
• I knew one person to the state I was moving to
• My lifestyle basically revolved around my home state - hobbies, friends, etc.

I figured, "what the hell, let me take this leap of faith and learn what it is like to live as a real adult and see what I can make of this. I told myself that this would be a great challenge that would make me grow in a way that no other experience could. I'd finally be paving my own path."

And that's exactly what happened. I worked my ass off, learned a ton, paid off my student loans in full, and almost three years later I'm making a great salary (for the midwest) with a promotion to the senior level.

Sounds good right? Well here's the issue - I've never felt more unsure about my future than right now.

Some problems that have come up:

• I have found out that some of my coworkers are snakes/shady and it is not fun to deal with
  • I feel like I always have to play office politics and I hate it
• Work/life balance is abysmal - due to the nature of consulting work, I constantly work to meet deadlines and by the end of the day I am dead; I only have time to hit the gym, maybe play some video games, then go to bed
• Making friends in a brand new area was harder than I thought - Making friends with a fulltime job is just hard in general
  • I was initially friends with some coworkers, but they turned out to be shady/manipulative/untrustworthy
    • I started off super open and willing to share who I was. Little did I know that would be used against me and have people talk shit behind my back
• The industry is incredibly niche - I feel like the longer I stay in this industry, the harder it will be for me to get out
  • I am basically in a position where what I am doing now (duty/type of work wise), is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Not much will change other than that I will need to start trying to gain my own clients and build my own book of business
  • After some time, I have some qualms about the industry itself - don't love it, don't hate it
    • There's some shady shit in the legal industry that I am not proud to be a part of
    • I spend 110% of my brain power solving petty legal matters that have little impact on the world

I have a strong desire to move back to the area I was originally from. Here's the issue, the industry I am currently in doesn't exist in my home state/neighboring states + I mentioned before that I don't really love what I am doing. So in order to do this, I will probably have to take an entry level role and a huge pay cut to make this happen. I have a desire to take on a more traditional mechanical engineering role, specifically design/manufacturing since I don't even use any of the classes I took in college - It's all physics 1, calc 1, and a whole lot of presentation/sales/communication/writing skills in consulting with the clients. Any ME's advice out there is also greatly appreciated.

Am I being ridiculous? I know I just laid out a whole lot of first world problems and probably sound insane to some of you. Things are great financially and I have a stable career path laid out in front of me. Yet, I feel so unsure, lost, and just flat out unhappy. Is this the grass really greener on the other side? Anyone's two cents is greatly appreciated.

12 year marriage is ending and it's amazing how shitty she is to me. She acts like I'm the devil and can't stand to be on the phone with me. It's crazy how you can love someone more than anything and then go the complete opposite direction and hate them. Like, did you even really love them at all in the first place? Because no matter what she did or does to me I'm going to always love her and not treat her like shit

I’m 16, and I know boxing, Muy Thai, Ju Jitsu. I did Ju Jitsu classes mostly when I was little and now I train daily but with no formal classes just at home. So far at my school I’m 9-0! I weigh 120 which is super light, but so far I’ve faced the following One man who is 180, submitted him in five fights sub 30 seconds One man who is 130 who was notably much faster and took longer One guy twice who’s 150, didn’t know much One man who was 200 pounds and tall😭. But if a longer fight but submitted him I come to Reddit for advice. Bell rang but this one tall lanky and fast dude was very fast, and I could take him down cause he kept moving backwards. Any advice on taking down fast people? I seem to do well vs bigger opponents but takes longer vs light and fast ones

i’ve spent a lot of my life with a lot of different emotions, time with grief, sorrow, anger, love, hate, loneliness, during all these times i’ve thought about existence, mine and everyone’s, our actions, MY actions, the things we’ve all been through, the things we hide from everyone and the things everyone knows about. why are we here just to grow old and die and never (?) experience existence again? it doesn’t make sense, why are we all here doing what we do, living how we live, just for it to end, i think about my time in school, i hated it so much the teachers the other students it just wasn’t for me, and yet here i am looking back on photos from the past wishing i could be that version of me again, with everything really, relationships, family photos of events, remembering things from the past because of an obscure thing that reminded you. does anyone else feel like they are too alive, or like too sentient? i’m not saying i’m a genius i feel like i’m too aware of myself. anyone else?

Nowadays, it feels like everything is either commercialized or sexualized, to satisfy any desire for pleasure you might have. Dating is like a race to get someone in bed, and friends are only welcome if they bring tangible benefits into your life. Doesn’t all this sadden anyone else apart from me? I know people have reasons for seeking pleasures, as do I, but I think we can safely say we’ve gone overboard with our pursuit of it. Man (and woman) doesn’t need much to be happy, and yet he (or she) lacks the basic requisites for it. We’ve replaced community and healthy relationships with casual sex, and meaningful work with a race to the top.

Naturally, each person is unique. However, I am curious about your individual experience. 

(Almost 19 M here) I have been dealing with low self esteem since elementary school. I was always was the less popular one, the weaker one, the shorter one. I was made fun of etc. I also got trauma from being laughed at by teachers and whole class while standing in front of blackboard and answering teacher's tasks. It made me really hate myself for some time. I got mental marks after this. "I am stupid, weak, I suck" always sits at the back of my head. At the beggining of secondary school, motivated by rage I started improving myself. I have been learning, expanding my hobbies and lifting since then, I got in pretty good shape and became kind of strong. I also take care of skin, shower more often and put more thought into haircuts. My physical appearence is great now. I feel confident about it. It is so much easier to look better than it is to have healthy mindset. The issue is I have gotten into upgrading myself so much I forgot about strengtening the character. Sometimes the anxiety is hitting the roof. I stress about every little mistake. I have problems talking with anybody beside my family. I would like to start dating but I think of myself so low that I cannot even imagine a girl loving me. I think that I am so boring even though I have hobbies and things that I like to do. Those negative thoughts are stuck in my head and I can't get rid of them. Because of all of this I cannot pass the driving exam. I failed it 7 times already. Everything is because I can't focus. All those thoughts are hitting like a truck. Last time I was all shaking, I couldn't keep my legs straight. I also deleveloped this obsession with learning and wanting to be smarter than others. I learn, learn and learn and feel guilty for not knowing something (I am still going to school but it's vocational, evening school for adults). I am overthinking everything. All of this is so mentally EXUASTING. I have loving family, cosy home, savings, siblings, I am educated and aiming for a some university. I am in better situation than many other people. Mine problem sometimes seems like it's made up, like it's not real, but it actually effects my life, my being. Thanks if you did read any of this.

I hope this is an acceptable place to post this

I know there will probably be some comments like this, so I just wanna respond to them right away

That's just because you're jelaous - Yes

That's not healthy thinking like that - Agree

Anyways. 28M, i have always had a hard time with women. I have had (and still have) female friends. But i always fall in love with them, which end it all

I'm still a virgin and never had gf. It absolutely kills me inside everyday. I hate everything about it. And hearing about all these happy relationships and marriges makes me so envy and sad

Of course i never express these feelings when people talk about it, because it's not their fault. And i don't wanna be the friend you can't talk to this about because of my own problems

It just hurts me so much. I want a partner so much, someone to share my life with. Talk with, laugh with, travel with, hear about their day. But it never goes that way. When I hear people talk about it (which is everywhere) it just makes me think even more about my situation and how different I feel from every other person on the planet

It's my biggest insecurity. Please be kind

Say 50 years from now some major economic disaster happens and there’s millions of people with college degrees and tons of experience in things like Computer science or Economics or Real Estate who are out of Work and out of money. Without bare minimum skills necessary for human survival these people will resort to crime and violence to survive, which could mean the downfall of our society as we know it

I’m begging you to learn how to become self-sufficient, it may very well save your life someday

Everyone says that you can only live once, so work hard and use 100 percent of your time to have a great life. But that doesn't make any sense...

Why should we do our best to achieve something that, eventually, we're going to lose when we die?

I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but when I see people on the street, I notice they're working hard just to have a better life—one where they'll eventually be buried with everything they’ve worked for.

I know some will say that life is all about experiencing things, but every time I hear that from someone, they can't provide a compelling reason why it's enough.

Things have been really weird lately Idk but it’s confusing Nothing seems right I’ve issues everywhere Academically I’m not doing that great at times I feel super lonely I’ve friends but sometimes I feel disconnected and I don’t know with whom I should share my feelings. I’ve used multiple apps where I can talk to people but couldn’t find a single person I can share my stuff with !!! I just want a genuine friend somebody I could talk to on daily basis I’m sick and tired of talking to a different person daily!!!!! Why is it so hard to find a genuine connection in this world!!!!!!

Intensity: slightly intense

Closer description: numbness

There is a topic and decision I need to make together with my wife - but we are dancing a bit around it, reason being it somewhat triggers me, and it really triggers her.

Broadly speaking, this decision is how we manage our family finances in a period of life transition. A somewhat unrelated event triggered her to come to me with this conversation again today, but in a state of elevated anger. I feel that what she is asking of us to do is not the most conscious way forward. Today I tried to take a step back from the conversation seeing that she was triggered, mentioning that we should have the talk when we are both in a more grounded state. This only triggered her more, where she accused me of trying to act superior, and not understanding what she is going through. The situation ultimately ended up triggering me a bit as well, I did my best not to react, but a feeling of numbness kicked in ultimately, and rather than holding space I ended up retreating and finding protection within myself.

The conversation on this topic is recurring, and it's a difficult one. It's very triggering, and I feel it doesn't really consciously go anywhere. The most I can say, it that we are making micro-progress after each conversation (but very slow). I struggle to remember when we had a very calm conversation about the topic, where we made real progress, in the last 2-3 months.

Do you have any advice, for how to manage a very important conversation and decision, with your partner or close one, but one that is extremely triggering for one or both parties? Thanks for any advice here.

This felt like an r/Emotional_Healing and r/emotionalneglect topic so I also posted them there.

I don’t want to post this on fetish page, but I’m very curious. Unless you can tell me about a better page.

I get turned on by the idea of a coat on shoulders or capes blowing in the wind and or falling off. Is there a name for this fetish.

It partially started when I watched Yugioh. Yugioh is the rare thing where the jacket gets blown off actually. It was played so dramatically lol.

Hello to whoever is reading this. I'm currently waiting to join grad school and I need something to keep me busy in the time being. My dad has offered to give me capital if I come up with an idea that will generate income and keep me afloat. I don't have any at the moment so I thought I'd ask for some ideas.

Life is becoming so hard and tough it’s like am at the end of the wall

Let’s say you get the chance to meet an alien—like a real, intelligent being from another planet. You only get to ask them one question. What would it be?

Would you ask something about their technology? Their perspective on life? Whether they’ve been watching us this whole time?

Personally, I think I’d ask something simple, like, “What do you value most?” I feel like their answer would say a lot about how different (or similar) they are to us.

What about you? What would your first question be?

I fucked up school I fucked up work I fucked up family relationships I’ve fucked up partner relationships I get no one’s perfect but it genuinely feels like nothing ever goes to plan I’ve made so many plans to make money legal or not and they never ever go to plan I smoke a lot of weed and I can’t even afford it 😂 I know what I should be doing but I just can’t I feel stuck sometimes I’ll get a job interview and I’ll get so overwhelmed with my thoughts to the point I talk myself out of going to them and making progress in life and what pushed me to write this is I need help. I need to hear from the point of view from someone who is familiar with these circumstances or has been through this I struggle a lot with talking about how I feel and this is the best I’ve done so far so any advice would be great 👊👊

First of a little background.

2019 i was 13M i had a rough home life and wasn’t in school much so i had nobody, I played video games everyday pretty much all day, in summer of 2019 I met a girl online. problem was she was 22, we still talked and flirted for a couple months before we told each other ages by then i was 14, after she found out my age we still played and talked all the time but we flirted a little less. I played with her until fall of 2020. February 2020 I met my dream girl over Snapchat/facebook we had a beautiful love story. We were together at 14, first real date and kiss at 15 moved in together at 16 lost our first baby at 17 and had our special rainbow baby at 18. planed to marry next year at 20 and 19, but after she left I reconnected with the girl that was once too old for me. She was my first crush, her voice was so comforting and healing at times and she was older which was hot asf. maybe losing my dream girl means i get the girl who knows exactly what to say. The girl that has been right about every single thing i have ever told her, the girl that really knows how to make me feel okay no matter what problem i seem to have.

But what if I move on and lose my girl forever:(

As my disability and muscle weakness progresses, the less are the things I’m able to do where I live. I’m honestly so tired of changing my lifestyle so often and not being able to live a normal life. I don’t get it. Why is everything built mainly for abled bodied.

Starting this off with, yes, I have seasonal affective disorder. But that doesn't explain why I seem to be lacking in the warmth and empathy I usually have when it's sunnier.

I'm a lot more impatient, I'm guarded, way less tolerant. I can't say it isn't me, because it is, but that's not who I believe I am in my heart of hearts.

I act without thinking then realized my actions after. I just want to make decisions consciously instead of subconsciously.

I recently came on here to express how I was feeling and you guys really did come to my aid. Since then I’ve managed to get my self registered on my government aid programme which gives me $20 a month(I’m from South Africa) it’s not much but I’m also looking at opening my own war wash company on the side. I’ve managed to hustle a few of the equipment I’ll need and I’ve managed to speak to someone who used to detailing but doesn’t anymore and he had some brushes and other equipment lying around as well as some of the soaps and polish and he is willing to sell it all to me for $200. I make $5 a day and I know what you thinking save up some of that money but I work at a car wash and sometimes at a warehouse doing manual labour, use the money for food and transport so saving that way is out and if I use the $20 from the aid programme it will take me 10 months. I would rather get a loan online or something and pay that person the $20 for 10-12 months so that person gets more money then he gave me (make it worth his while helping me) then waiting 10 months then buying it because I could make quite a bit of money now in December and January (hopefully pay the loan back by the end of January) would this be the right move and if so where could I go because without a credit history I doubt the banks will help me

Thanks in advance

As the title says, I (19M) am anxious about the future, career wise mostly. I have an interest in writing, which I have been doing for quite a while now. I even do drawing, but rarely though, since I'm more leaning onto writing than drawing. But let me tell the whole reason why I'm really anxious about the future, I'm thinking about becoming a writer, but due to AI, I fear that it'll be impossible for me to be one. I don't want to waste 4 (or more) years knowing that my efforts will all be in vain due to AI, and I know that I sound paranoid, but AI is advancing with each passing moment.

I've seen YouTube videos about people being replaced by AI left and right, and I'll be damned to be one of them. I really love writing, and want to make something out of it, but I don't want all of my efforts to be for nothing. I hope I'm not coming off as a paranoid immature person, I'm just genuinely anxious about not only my future, but about everyone else's future as well.

What has happened to us a society? Is this the future of how we do business when when we disagree ? As a human being and policy holder - this cuts deep.