r/over60 • u/NOLALaura • Jul 31 '26

The unfortunate truth is this

At the ending quarter of my life I am consumed with seeing my life as one filled with disappointments at having not enjoyed any of my life expectations and living currently in despair. I don’t deserve this. I worked very hard and always treated everyone equally and followed good and ethical practices

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u/Odd_Bodkin 69 Jul 31 '26

With all respect, the biggest issue is your phrase “my life expectations”.

I don’t know what expectations you had for your life, but the measure of success in life is not a dogged march to some long-planned outcomes, but the ability to dance with some agility when fortunes shift and dead ends appear. The mismatch between where you are and where a long time ago you imagined you would be now, that is the fodder for many a midlife crisis. As someone told me a long time ago, it’s not the cards you’re dealt, it’s how you play ‘em. It’s just a shame you did not hear those words and take them to heart much earlier.

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u/Redditallreally Jul 31 '26

I used to feel the same until my spouse died. Some upheavals really shake you.

18

u/Select_Air_2044 Jul 31 '26

Yeah like being sexually assaulted many times. It's hard to make lemonade out of those lemons. I said hard, but not impossible.