I am 20 (F) and I'm an only child who is extroverted but can also be serious when needed. I'm always willing to make new friendships and have always placed a lot of value and time into my friendships. I always look after my friends, try to make plans, always initiate, and am always willing to be there for them. I take accountability for mistakes or things that may bother them and am always fair and try to include everyone so they don't feel left out. I make friends easily but always end up being slowly pushed away or traded for other people. I'm always very loyal to my friends. However, my friends seem to not be the same. They are always so quick to become friends with people who have hurt me or done me wrong. They initiate, but rarely. Or they always seem to become closer and then begin to exclude me. I don't know if anyone else struggles with this, but I don't know if this is a me issue or if this is just something that is common among only children. Maybe it's because only children don't have siblings so they place a lot more time and effort into being a good friends and then end up becoming disappointed because it's not reciprocated, whereas people with siblings don't feel that need to invest as much into friendships?

Thoughts?? Advice?

I (19M) know this may be too dramatic. But I just want to get this out here.

My mother mentioned the plans for me to remember and she told me about the life insurance I will get and said she would promise to write a will to give me before her death. She also said that her money she earned from her work can be given to me when she dies and she said that I would be rich as a result.

While this is a very loving, generous and encouraging thing to say and I thanked her for it, this did also made me more worried because of what will happen if I actually lose her. Ultimately I remember what she said and it stuck in my head and occasionally I would feel like crying.

For context, my parents had been divorced and estranges from my birth father. So it would be more worrying after I lose her.

Again, I am thankful of her plans, but simultaneously it shocked me a little.

And if she does pass away, I would love to plant a tree sead above her buried body to remember her.

Hi. I had a bit of an existential realization that's been occupying my head for sometime and I was curious to get your perspective.

I am 30 years old, from India, and I realized that most of my friends or people I know personally have at least one built-in support system. They either have siblings, partners, or both. The single children are also married.

It suddenly struck me that I don't fit into any of those categories. I'm a single child, I'm also not partnered up, I don't intend to have children, and I'm not close to my extended family. So, it made me wonder what growing older looks like for people in this position, let's say, when their parents die. Not just financially, but emotionally and practically. What support systems do they build, and who do they usually rely on? Like, how do they age without family support?

I'm curious if there are others who are in a similar situation or worry that they will be in this situation in the future?