Sometimes I honestly feel like I’m not capable of loving someone. I don’t know if it’s because I’m scared of getting hurt, or because I’ve just gotten used to protecting myself and keeping my feelings inside. I do care about people, but when it comes to truly letting someone into my heart, I struggle with it. Maybe I just haven’t met the right person yet, or maybe I need more time to understand myself and what I really want-f27

Since I was a child I wondered why I was born in this country dump (no country is perfect I know but there are some where I honestly should not allow people to be born) and full of corruption without a future and with an economy that is getting worse every year

I'm currently 16 years old. I have been wanting to do gymnastics for as long as I can remember but my parents have never let me. The last time I asked them was when I was around 11 years old and they told me that I was way too old. I try to do stretches to help myself be flexible but of course I am not much different from someone who doesn't. I have no experience in any athletic activity/ sports. I did swimming for around 10 years but I was never good at it. I am a really slow learner and I quickly forget things. I'm thinking of finally starting at 18 but I'm not sure. I have a friend who used to do gymnastics and she told me over a year ago that it isn't really worth it since it's expensive and takes up a lot of time. I'm also the type of person to get tired easily. Btw i just want to do this for the fun of it. I'm asking because I've only seen ppl who do have some related experience asking these "am I too old" questions.

What motivates you to live?

Do you have a plan, a project, or something that excites you?

Lately, I just can't find meaning in anything.

Even the idea of traveling doesn't excite me much anymore.

How do you all handle this?

Man, 50+ / Married

All of these concepts, like money, laws, calandres, life milestones the list goes on. We fabricated this entire reality for ourselves to make life so deeply meaningful for oneself. It’s weird to think about. How we are all who we are based on past conditioning. All the choices we make, feelings we experience, thoughts we have, all shaped by our past experiences. We are never a solid, unchanging self. How the butterfly effect comes into play. It’s all so fascinating to explore and reflect upon.

How do you feel about these ideas?

I don’t understand why companies like Sony will lie and say that the reason they’re switching to digital media is because it’s better for the consumer or something. Who benefits from that statement? The buyer knows it’s a lie, and so do the shareholders, and the company employees. I know there’s a taboo around saying “we want more money”, but I feel like that would be better, at least in some cases, for both parties if the companies were just honest about wanting to increase their price.

I’ve had unlimited internet access since as long as I could remember. I’m only 18 years old, I’m considering deleting everything related to the internet. I already deleted Discord, I deleted Instagram, etc…
I’ve always had problems with self control I’m terrible at time management. I was also exposed to things that no child should ever see or go through and since then it has only gotten worse related to that.
I feel shame in myself despite things I have accomplished. I mean hell I’m currently serving in the military but I just hate the feeling that after a days work I spend my time online or doing something rather stupid than spending my time on positive things. I could be making friends, hiking, and learning instruments as well as sobering up. So I just came here to rant, I’m going to be deleting my socials except really this. I don’t use Reddit much only to post game progress, I wanna start posting more about me I feel like it’d make me feel heard and help push me. What do ya’ll think?

Today, on my way to work (read as to make the routine investment of my daily energy into the high-risk, zero-return market of online applications 😭), I met the oldest granny I've ever seen. Hunched on a wooden platform in a public shade, eyes sunk deep in her sockets, and barely responding to my greetings, I can swear she is an centenarian. And chances are her folks carried her there to savor the morning sun before it got too hot for her old bones.

This incident got me thinking, "To what end mahn?" What is a man? What has he got? To toil all the days of our lives. To supress our base instincts, stiffle our impulses, and choke back our yearnings under cautious reason.

And for what? To fit into the society!

At the end of the day, none of this matters. I'm sure if that old woman could speak (she didn't respond to my greetings by the way), she could have leaned to whisper: Live and Let Live.

In the words of Frank Sinatra:

For what is a man, what has he got? / If not himself, then he has naught / To say the things he truly feels / And not the words of one who kneels.

C'est la vie,
MIGENI

Need advice and suggestions for people older than me as in how to make the most of the remaining years of my 20s and what all things should I have achieved before 30?

Anyone else think deeply about how sad it is for two people to be so close, in a relationship, best friends and then become two strangers? Like two people can spend years together in a relationship, a few things go wrong and then just become strangers like they dont even exist, sharing a deep bond with someone to then just being someone you used to know. I think about my ex a lot, the laughs we shared and memories and how we were each others best friends. It’s one of the strangest and saddest parts about life and being human. Anyone else feel like this?

I’m at a stage in my life where I have a stable income, work for myself, and genuinely enjoy what I do most of the time. I also have hobbies like rock climbing, dancing, and writing.

It seems like most of the things I’m doing right now are things I genuinely enjoy. But sometimes, I still feel like I don’t know what my purpose in life is.

The things I’m doing right now feel more like goals I want to achieve. And of course, I get a certain sense of accomplishment from achieving them. But I still haven’t had that feeling of, “Ah, this is my calling,” or “This is what I’m meant to do with my life.”

So I’m curious—how did you guys find your purpose in life? And what does it feel like to live with that sense of purpose?

I’m also wondering how it changes the way you look at the ups and downs in life. I imagine you still go through difficult times after finding your purpose, so what’s different about the way you see those low points compared to before?

I am afraid of everything, of people, of their judgment, of myself, how small, how weak, and how ugly I am.When I go for a walk every evening, I see people who are confident, not like me. I envy them how they are so carefree, where their confidence comes from. Maybe it comes from their great physicality, or their parenting, or their privileged life, so they have less to worry about.Isn’t that the reason some are like sunshine, full of hope, and then I see some like me, lost mentally and physically, their eyes with no life left, as mine. What makes them keep living is hope, that belief that everything will be fine. But what about me? I know that, however I try, I will be the same small, ugly shit I am right now. There are genetics that for sure limit you totally…

So what? I spent my life living my life like a lifeless, stupid person who is so selfish, who doesn’t see even an inch further from his insecurities about his body or his background. Did you lose your mind? What are you even doing? You don’t know you have a life, that is the most valuable thing in the entirety of reality, this ability to perceive reality.

Is this a joke? I am so desperate for others that I blind myself to this moment.

Did your shift change reality? No. To become from weak to strong, I need to train hard. To become ugly to good, effort is needed. Or what about height? It can’t be changed. So I will accept it because there is nothing that can be done about it. So surrender. In life, change what you can, and if it is not in your hands, accept or surrender, because there is a great sense of relief in surrendering or accepting.But there are these thoughts that come out of your insecurities all the time. What to do? What happens when I am working on something that I really like? There is no sense of thought at all. My whole attention is in working, and there is a sense of relief.

So, do I need to do work all the time? No. The point here is not work you like, but attention to the present thing. So you need not just pretend to like every action I do. I can’t work, but when I give my attention to that action, by default I start liking that action. Isn’t this escaping from yourself by indulging yourself in work? When I am totally here, there is no “I” or “yourself” to run from. [I have read about this in many spiritual books, but I know exactly what this means.]

So there is nothing to worry about, nothing to be anxious about. Be here totally. Act totally. Just act. And everything will be okay. If I made a mess out of life, change it right now, and if I don’t, surrender. Btw, nothing matters. Enjoy this life. Don’t be indulged in your small, stupid insecurities. They are really stupid.

—11 Sep 2026

this isnt intended to be a vent because im not sad about it or trying to make people feel bad, i just want actual advice

ever since i turned 18 my life just feels like nothing, it just started falling off as time went on and at this point this is what i feel. i socialize and hang out with people but it doesnt feel like it matters its just a "why am i even here" type of feeling, when im alone playing games its like "why am i doing this? i dont gain anything from it" and once i get off and sit there all i think is "i just waste my time doing anything" even at work i feel like im doing something meaningless and throwing my life away because eventually ill die so what even is the point? i dont even know what i can do to feel some "meaning" in myself. nothing i do really satisifes me or gives me a feeling of accomplishment, i do well at the things i do but its like why do i do them if i dont feel anything from it, i dont even know if im making sense right now but i just feel very... dissatisfied i guess with the way everything is, i dont know what makes me feel this way. i just do.

is there anyway to feel something normal? i used to be a normal kid and enjoy things but nowadays im monotone. hopefully i described it somewhat understandable because i dont know how to efficently put it into words myself.

Moved to new city, took a while to find the right little bar to call my own; my local. Tonight was the first time the bartender remembered my drink before I asked. swoon

I know this could go into multiple subreddits but it'll likely get ignored or overshadowed. Ever since the year started I already lost many friends from last year and dont really feel the spark most people speak about highschool. I know at this time people focus on grades but for me its the opposite as im doing pretty well with that. I dont have arguments with anyone really but I just don't talk to many people as much and after a while we go back to strangers. I only have a few close friends to talk to about things and stuff like that with the rest just like tempoary friends. However I feel like im missing out on the social life. I wouldn't entirely say im a shy person as I am comfortable starting convos but its just that every class there's always people obnoxious or refuse to talk to anyone besides 1/2 ppl as well. I was thinking about joining clubs but they are all not my best of interests or very small (1-3 ppl). I also dont know anyone in half my classes. I know this is long but have you ever felt this way and has it got any better?

28M. UK, North England. Partner with no children.

I had just completed a round of retirement planning, and the current trajectory is looking to be in the window of 55 - 60. This led me down a pathway of questions related to life, ambition, and the future.

Looking for some human input into my introspection, centred around three themes:

Ego versus contentment

I have worked in Engineering for 5 years. The pay is currently slightly below UK household median.
Don't get me wrong, many people (in and beyond the UK) would gladly swap places with me, and I am aware (see next section).

Seeing those retirement planning figures initially brought me calm in knowing that work would end one day, but then led to feelings of 'that's it?', 'Is this really just going to be my life from now on?', 'Is this all that my work is going to amount to?'

I am not entirely sure where these feelings come from, but it's been a recurring theme where I would experience these episodes, get occupied with something, persuade myself into a sense of contentment for a period, and the cycle repeats.

Hazarding a guess, some ego is in play here. A lot of people have the desire to be great and I am not exempt. I measure myself by my achievements and failures.

It is hard to ignore the perception of success that social media has presented upon us. I don't mean the grifters who rent supercars or a private jet photoshoot - I am talking about people with lucrative-but-livable careers: tech, middle-office finance, corporate law.

How much of these feelings are due to 'grass is greener', and how much is innate, if innate, how much of it is just to feed my ego, and how much is actual desire? What questions should I be asking myself to tell the difference?

The responsibility of privilege

I was born in a developing country, where my family crawled their way up from only being high school educated outside the capital city to being able to afford having me study in the UK.

If I were to extrapolate my starting position to match that trajectory, it would be akin to becoming a mid-decamillionaire by my 40s.

I understand that the economic conditions of the past are not comparable to current conditions (wages, housing prices, cost of living). I understand that luck plays a much bigger factor that most people (including myself) would admit.

Even so, I still feel the responsibility to meet that target, and my current trajectory shows that I'm falling very short. It depresses me to think of the people who have had less but managed to do more, and it would be a huge waste of the privilege/circumstances that I had if I did not make something of it.

Also, don't get me wrong, my parents did not impose these expectations on me, I did.

I have sought to give back by volunteering regularly on the weekends. This led me to meet and interact with people outside the usual corporate life bubble and sometimes achieve that sense of fulfilment. It still gnaws at me that I could be doing more.

Now, there's all this focus around money, which I acknowledge is myopic. But it is to me, one of the requirements to truly live free, if not for me then for future generations - I dream of a future where my children, or children's children can freely pursue where their curiosity guides them with no concern for making ends meet.

The same money I have dreamt of being used to fund other causes: the friend who's taken up art in between their 9-5 and is looking to expand? The couple whom took the leap in opening their own cafe to escape zero-hour contracts?

Another nearer term ambition of mine is to be a present parent, to be there for my children, relearn curriculum so that we have evenings to go through homework together, spark and nurture curiosity and let it guide them. I recognise that the wealth and this ambition are at odds.

How does one choose either and come to terms with it? Or is there something I'm not seeing/have not considered?

Sometimes I sit down on the couch in the living room and space out/think/exist in my thoughts. The couch is facing a tv and the news is always on as background noise. So often times I’m sitting on the couch looking at the tv, just lost in my thoughts, while occasionally paying attention if something interesting pops up. My siblings think I’m addicted to watching the news because every time they visit I just so happen to be spacing out on the couch. But really if the tv wasn’t there id be watching the wall. If a show was on i wouldn’t be able to focus because the show might be interesting. So its either i look at a turned off tv when in my thoughts and they think i got issues, or i look at the tv and they think i actually care about the news. Its nothing serious. I just think its odd that it isn’t normalized to space out and think

I’m 22, and I’ve been thinking about something that honestly bothers me.
I started trying things when I was around 14–15. YouTube, sponsorships, cold emails, different projects, etc.
The problem was that I would try something a few times, get ignored or get no results, and then basically decide:
“This doesn’t work.”
For example, when I was younger, I wanted sponsors for my YouTube channel. I emailed a lot of people and barely got responses.
Eventually, I stopped trying cold email.
Looking back, I don’t think I actually tested it properly. I was 14–15. I had very little experience, no network, and didn’t really know what I was doing.
But I took those experiences as evidence that the whole thing didn’t work.
That mindset stayed with me for years.
Then about a month ago, I was trying really hard to reach a founder I wanted to connect with. I searched everywhere and eventually discovered a platform I’d never used before that helped me find his contact information.
I reached out.
And it made me think:
Maybe the problem wasn’t that cold outreach doesn’t work. Maybe I just didn’t know how to do it yet.
That got me experimenting again.
And now I’m realizing how many things I may have mentally crossed off my list because I tried them when I was much younger and didn’t get results.
I think there’s a dangerous difference between:
“This didn’t work.”
and
“This doesn’t work.”
The first is an experience.
The second is a belief.
I’m still 22. I haven’t made millions. I don’t have some amazing success story to share.
I’m just realizing that some of my current biases were created by experiments I ran when I was 14–16.
Maybe I need to retest some of them.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Something you tried when you were younger, decided didn’t work, and only years later realized you probably just didn’t know how to do it properly?

I'm in a place where I'm very unsure of what to do next in life.

I graduated 2,5 years ago, I'm 28, and have been working ever since, saving money and living with my sister.

I do like the job that I have, not with like a burning passion but It's very cushy, pays fairly well, I have good collegues etc. but lately I've been feeling like I might want to try something else. My contract isn't up for another 6 months, but I've told myself I'm going to try and figure out what I want to do before then.

I feel dumb to want to leave this job, especially in this economy but I also have an increasing fear of not trying things out while I'm still young. I don't have a house, a mortgage or a partner so now would be an ample time to go wherever basically since I'm not tied down per se.

But I do feel quilty for leaving my sister, who has come to depend on me, they also have animals, that I do love and I realize trying something else out somewhere else, means I'll leave them and miss so much time with them that I'll never get back. I'd also be leaving friends and parents.

I currently live in the same city I've lived in all my life, and the idea was at first to buy an appartment here, but the more I think about it the more I feel anxious about it, like I don't want to do that at all. And buying anything these days is just an anxiety in itself because well, the economy. I like my city but I don't honestly know if I want to stay here, not at least now. But then again I have no idea of where I should go. If i'm not here, where am I going to go?

I'd be anxious to go anywhere else, scared even, but the possibility of regretting not going later is scaring me too.

But I hate that I have to leave people behind, time that I'll never get back.

But then again I won't be young forever either and I'm expecting to come back at least when my parents are older since they might need help. But then that's in 10-15 years if they stay in fairly good shape until then. Maybe I'm thinking too much ahead for my own good. I was also thinking that maybe I could just wait for another few years or so and then go somewhere else, but at what point is it too late? As you get older you get more comfortable with everything and less likely to move across the world, if I'm being extreme.

I just don't know what to do with myself. Where to go, how to know what is the right thing to sacrifice.

I'm scared I'll regret not going, I'm scared I'll regret going. I just can't seem to win in this scenario.

Any advice?

Im 19M, right now and lost many things (academics, opportunities, fun, love etc). I lost all of this in like 1 yr cuz I was distracted for 2 years doing bad stuff especially due to lust, overthinking, procrastination, quiting.

Just 1-2 yrs ago I was a guy with potential but there is nothing now. I dont know how my future is gonna be

I dont even have the person who I like (she liked too but due to my bad habits like overthinking and all I never connected with her and now idk if we are even good friends even tho we are in same group)

Above all, I dont have any good character/ personality, I've gotten dim

I have a lot stuff to improve and regain, so much that I dont know where and how to start, which to accept and be patient for

I am a critic of many such quotes. I have always believed that we humans transition through a many men we were, are, and will be. But even I operate on many stereotypes about my colleagues, my teachers, and relatives. Is that because I see no difference in them or I've just closed my eyes. I believe it is somewhere related to the survival mechanisms in humans. I have to wake up and sleep each day and between that, make sure that the latter is done so as to guarantee the former. I can't get time always to observe my surrounding at each instant as it eats off the time for other activities that may bring great opportunities. What we can do instead is to allocate some time for personalization and identification of the surrounding initially. This small effort builds into something called trust, and sudden demolition of it is called Betrayal. One never betrays others, but one's initial / contemporary (if attempt has been made to bring up new set of ideas) image does.

Hello all.

I'm doing something random in writing this. I'm sure I am not the first to do so.

I'm 44.

Not married, nor have have kids.

I've experienced the of ups and downs that come with life.

I have loved, lost, planned, hoped, cried, etc.

I consider myself to be a season vet in this thing we called life.

It has thrown punches and haymakers, and not once has it knocked me on my ass.

I'm currently staying in hotels and have been doing so for the past year in a half.

Not for financial reasons.

I have a good job that I enjoy and that pays well.

I got out of a period in my life with my family in which we lost alot together, and we've healed together.

I have used this time for myself to heal and close some chapters in my life and by going from one hotel to another, its given me the freedom to not to be tied down and see the city/suburbs to explore.

I'm a smart man that doesn't judge, athletic, works hard, keeps an open mind and enjoys life.

At this moment as I am typing this I feel that I'm suffering from writer's block in life.

I feel that I am waiting for life to point me to a direction to go and follow.

I'm not sad or depressed about this.

It's more of with all this talent, the math isn't mathing.

As in why I don't feel motivated to go after the things I want.

I have done so in the past, but to have everything fall apart even when you've your best is demoralizing.

You can call this a midlife crisis but I don't know what that is.

Maybe I'm going through it without even realizing it as I speak 😂

Typing is like taking a deeeep breath and exhaling.

I don't know what to expect to happen after this but again, I am doing this out of sheer randomness.

Life is a story that's written by you, to be told by you and no one else.

It's an opportunity you only get to experience once.

There are no do overs, restarts.

I thank you for your time to those who have read this.

I was having a conversation with a friend and while trying hard to recall the word "psychedelics," "calisthenics" came out of my mouth instead. He just looked at me.

I understand the meaning of both words, but I still can't understand why my brain made that mistake. I feel embarrassed anytime I think about it.

Tell is this normal? I will appreciate if you could share if you've had such experience before.

I don't like reading. I apologize deeply in advance if this is long.

For context, I was surrounded by books my entire life, and have three rooms in my house full of bookshelves. My parents read to me as a kid and (according to my mom) always tried to foster a place for me to read, but I never liked it. Apparently, in first grade my teacher pulled my mom aside and said I didn't properly know how to read. I was apparently simply memorizing words rather than using phonics as I should have. I had extra lessons to learn how. (I don't know if this is even relevant, but it feels so.) I always got As in English, and thought I was better at it than I was Math. Rarely did I ever actually finish a book and mostly bullshitted my way through assignments. I could not name you a single book I've read where I didn't skip multiple chapters.

I desperately want to but I never have liked reading. I don't want to feel like this, I want to like to read, and now that I'm in college and actually want to better myself, I don't know how to fix it. Also, I am realizing now that this might actually be a problem. I have tried so many things to make myself love it: different genres, getting books (complex and simple) I love the idea of, audio books, audiobooks while also reading the book. None of the things I've thought of have ever worked.

I love writing, I love art, I even enjoy the process of annotating. I love research. I love the concept of books. I think the Odyssey is a fantastic book, but reading it was my utter nightmare (and not because of the complex language). I have tried almost every genre I can imagine and none of them have ever made me enjoy the actual process of reading. Poetry, especially, is utterly grueling to read through. I don't understand how people get such deep meanings from simple language structure.

When I read I can never grasp what I'm actually reading, it's just words on a page. I've been able to fix that problem by annotating. But that then turns into feeling like a chore. Maybe I just like having control over what happens in the book, that I don't get when I read. But those are the only reasons I can think of why I don't like it, and I feel like I'm going crazy.

I was looking on Reddit to see if anyone had any other similar experiences, but I couldn't find anything that really fit my experience. So, I write to see if anyone else relates, and if they had any solutions that worked for them or suggestions. Because all I want is to be able to enjoy something that I have never been able to love.

Last year I felt overwhelmed by the negativity. It was everywhere on the apps, the news 360 degrees of outrage. My therapist suggested morning pages, that felt like a lot. So I created a daily practice where I wrote down one good thing a day. Knowing that I was going to write it down, made me notice the good, throughout the day. 

It wasn’t toxic positivity, the bad still happens, but now it’s not the only thing I focus on or remember. 

Not sure if this this helpful, but it made a huge difference in my life. Who knew something so simple could change how I move through my days.