Anyone else around here been living a "meh" life lately?

[repiV]

Oh yeah, do I choose between heating or food?
I'm fortunate that I have enough money to live now, but it wasn't like that when I was younger. We had some very cold winters. I wasn't happier then than I am now. Having money means that I have choice.

No, but I bet you'd rather be your younger self and skint than wealthy and working 80 hour weeks, your entire life crumbling around you as you don't have the time or energy to do anything except work.

I don't think simply having a pile of money will make me happy(Although it would be pretty novel). Does anyone ever think that? Wanting money is about being enabled. I'll concede that a lot of people do have enough money to be happy and comfortable, but the way you polarised it by saying "Rich people are moody and sad" and "Poor people are happy" is just plain daft.

Most people can make ends meet. I was really skint when I first moved down here, because I can hardly survive on the basic pay alone. But if I didn't have the debts that I do, it would have been fairly comfortable. A nice car and a flatscreen TV aren't really essentials, at the end of the day.

Still, I was happier then than when I had money to burn in London.

 

[Saturos]

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a higher class of misery.

LOL, I like that. Can I sig it?

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

But then we weren't even talking about having trouble making ends meet, we were talking about simply not having enough money for basic needs. At least that's where it started.
It's hardly the same thing. I wasn't joking about having cold winters. When I was younger both of my parents ended up out of work after a bypass was built around our town and the business they had crumbled. We were living off the government for a long time.

And where did this working 80 hours a week with my life crumbling come from.

I bet you'd rather work 80 hours a week than be tortured by starvation and plague and Chinese people who cut you all over your body! Oh ho!

The best times of my life have usually coincided with having cash (or at least not having to worry about money), because it's meant I've been free to do things. Having money doesn't have to mean working 80 hours a week.

 

[mortiz-Redux]

Poor is a relative term. How you make use of the money you have is more important then the amount of money you earn.

The critical point being, however, that being rich isn't, in itself, great. It's entirely possible to be poor and happy or rich and miserable. Christ, how many people rave about their student days and how it was the best three years of their lives, despite being really, really poor?

The sacrifices that must be made in order to become rich are hardly worth the end result. If someone wants to offer me loads of money for nothing I'm not going to turn it down, but you won't find me working my life away for it.

I agree that money can't buy happiness, but not having it sure as hell can make you miserable.

The world is a harsh place, there are so many reasons for why we may be unhappy, whether it's poverty, war, famine, social isolation etc and so few things that can actually make us happy. Even things traditionally associated with happiness often times end up just making us more miserable in the long run, such as the break up of family's and relationships, which is sky high. The chances of you entering a relationship with someone and then discovering down the line that they're not who you thought they were are pretty good. Sure, you're happy for a while and that's why I say happiness really is just transitional. Some people do find true sustainable happiness, and I'm happy for them, but the majority don't.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

LOL, I like that. Can I sig it?

You can if you like, but I blatantly stole it from somewhere else.

 

[repiV]

But then we weren't even talking about having trouble making ends meet, we were talking about simply not having enough money for basic needs. At least that's where it started.

Well initially it was about the fact that being rich doesn't make you happy. I agree that not having enough money sucks, but there are worse things in the world.

It's hardly the same thing. I wasn't joking about having cold winters. When I was younger both of my parents ended up out of work after a bypass was built around our town and the business they had crumbled. We were living off the government for a long time.

Not being funny, but being warm in winter isn't really a basic need (unless you live in Saskatoon or some other place that insane people decided to settle). The days of waking up in the morning to find ice on the insides of the windows are only 30 or 40 years behind us. Put some more layers on. It's not pleasant, but that's how life in the winter has always been.

My house is freezing cold all winter, being a 500 year old stone cottage which can't be improved in any way as it's a listed building. Many a night I sat there in all my winter motorcycle gear shivering. It's nothing unusual if you live in an old house...not over here anyway.

And where did this working 80 hours a week with my life crumbling come from.

I bet you'd rather work 80 hours a week than be tortured by starvation and plague and Chinese people who cut you all over your body! Oh ho!

The best times of my life have usually coincided with having cash (or at least not having to worry about money), because it's meant I've been free to do things. Having money doesn't have to mean working 80 hours a week.

No, but then most people in the Western world "have money". There is no reason for any able-bodied person in our society to be genuinely poor. If you want to be rich, that does involve working 80 hours a week or other such sacrifices. And that's where people go wrong, thinking wealth is the path to happiness. You only need to be comfortable, and that's very achievable for most. After that, it's other aspects of your life that need looking at.

I agree that money can't buy happiness, but not having it sure as hell can make you miserable.

The world is a harsh place, there are so many reasons for why we may be unhappy, whether it's poverty, war, famine, social isolation etc and so few things that can actually make us happy. Even things traditionally associated with happiness often times end up just making us more miserable in the long run, such as the break up of family's and relationships, which is sky high. The chances of you entering a relationship with someone and then discovering down the line that they're not who you thought they were are pretty good. Sure, you're happy for a while and that's why I say happiness really is just transitional. Some people do find true sustainable happiness, and I'm happy for them, but the majority don't.

We don't really have to worry about poverty, war or famine in the West. There are plenty of things that can make us happy, I think you just have a very pessimistic point of view. Everything in life is transient, including emotion - that doesn't mean that happiness is "unobtainable". If you take the attitude that life is going to be shit, you will experience exactly that. Damn, wouldn't life be boring if it was all so predictable.

My mum died a year ago last Friday. We were very close. At roughly the same time I suffered a very serious injury that continues to disable me. I'm still happy. Wallowing in the bad stuff doesn't really accomplish anything, you just gotta take it all with a pinch of salt.

Really, what's the worst that can happen? It's just life! You can't take it too personally or too seriously. Go out there and grab it by the horns. Noone comes out alive at the end of it so why worry about these things.

 

[Solaris]

I'm not having a meh life at the moment, but I am quite poor.

I'm a week away from starting uni again, we have 3 weeks of class, then it's the final exams of our first year. I haven't worked hard enough so am doing alot of revising, but I'm happy to do it. I walked out of my job a couple of months ago so now I have very little money, but the student loan third instalment comes through in a few days so that and going to relatives for meals at weekends will keep me alive.

Being a students so fun, often you have no money for food, but you always have friends to borrow food off and theres always some ridiculously strong/horrible spirit in the flat that no-one minds if you drink when you can't afford your own drink. My mate brought some 90% stuff back from Andora, 5litres of the stuff, we've been drinking it for months, you get pissed so quick off it, saves a ton of money.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Not being funny, but being warm in winter isn't really a basic need (unless you live in Saskatoon or some other place that insane people decided to settle). The days of waking up in the morning to find ice on the insides of the windows are only 30 or 40 years behind us. Put some more layers on. It's not pleasant, but that's how life in the winter has always been.

My house is freezing cold all winter, being a 500 year old stone cottage which can't be improved in any way as it's a listed building. Many a night I sat there in all my winter motorcycle gear shivering. It's nothing unusual if you live in an old house...not over here anyway.

Being warm in winter is a basic need. Humans need warmth to live. It's 'fine' if you're a young adult, but I was a child when this happened. I actually spent some considerable time in hospital when I was just a few years old because I got sick from being cold. I don't even remember that though. But I very nearly died.
I used to live in a little town in the Pennines where we got a lot of a snow. It was fun when I had a nice cosy bed to go back to, but not so fun when I didn't.

Anyway I'm not going to bother continuing this discussion because we're clearly not talking about the same things.

 

[Raziaar]

Yes, I have.

 

[repiV]

Being warm in winter is a basic need. Humans need warmth to live. It's 'fine' if you're a young adult, but I was a child when this happened. I actually spent some considerable time in hospital when I was just a few years old because I got sick from being cold. I don't even remember that though. But I very nearly died.
I used to live in a little town in the Pennines where we got a lot of a snow. It was fun when I had a nice cosy bed to go back to, but not so fun when I didn't.

Well if you didn't even have a bed, then that's a little different! Uninsulated and unheated homes aren't that rare though, and not necessarily limited to poor families. A friend of mine lives in a 17th century farmhouse with stone floors and everything, and no heating of any kind except for a stove in the kitchen. Bloody freezing. My house at least has radiators but they don't seem to do much on the coldest of nights.

I know we normally don't really have a winter down here, but we had days this year where it didn't get above -2 at midday.

Anyway I'm not going to bother continuing this discussion because we're clearly not talking about the same things.

That seems to be the case.

 

[V-Man339]

In high school; pretty damn meh.

 

[gFrohman]

High school sucked balls for me because there were so many people that focused strictly on going with the flow and fitting into the crowd. Being in college for the last four years is so much different - some are there to fit into the crowd, but most people are there because they want to do something with their life (at least the people I know).
I don't know, maybe it's different for musicians - I feel like I've got a goal to go towards, so I think life's pretty peachy.

 

[Druckles]

To be honest, yeah. Pretty "meh", lately. But what can I do. I know I'll continue living the rest of my short existence feeling like this and wishing I was back in the past, because frankly the past will always look better for as long as I'm alive.

So what do you do? You just forget it. You forget the past, it's only going to bring you down. Sure, you can continue mulling it over and letting it drag you into that pit, and it might feel so good falling back again, but that's just another obstacle you've got to overcome. You just have to realise how selfish it is to do so.

Move on, accept things as they are and smile, because there's nothing wrong with your life, no problems you have, and nothing that could ever bring you down.

Who made this damned thread?

 

[Danimal]

lol @ everyone having crummy lives.

 

[Dodo]

lol @ everyone having crummy lives.

Hahah : D

-dodo

 

[L3N!N]

I'm actually very happy just cruising along...mainly because i'm an introvert and I actually prefer my own company...I don't need to socialize.

Yet you voraciously post here.

Interesting...

 

[Pulse]

Found out today my best mate at uni is dropping out, leaving me as the only one left on my course from 2007. Everyone else either dropped out or switched courses during the first year due to all of the programming involved. Now I have no one to work with, so I'm completely ****ed as I find it far too difficult and pairing up with my mate was the only way of passing the work.

Now I have to sort out either transferring courses or doing something else, which would result in 2 years wasted. Also suffering from anxiety again and I'm generally depressed as I feel I'm pissing my life away and driving myself into a ridiculous amount of debt for nothing.

Serious FML right here.

 

[Dog--]

lol @ everyone having crummy lives.

lol @ my avatar.

Everyone, look at Danimals crappy jpeg, and look at my awesome gif. His doesn't even move.

 

[Sheepo]

lololol

No complaints, quite looking forward to summer.

 

[The Monkey]

My live now is much more interesting than it was in high school.

 

[No Limit]

I had a meh life for about a year up to about 6 months ago or so. But lately things have been on the upturn for me. I'm not having as much fun as I did right after high school but I'm getting enough action at this point to keep me on my toes.

 

[Moto]

My life's pretty good, but I'm really confused about where I'm going with my college education, so that is stressing me out pretty badly. I was majoring in business economics and everything was good, but then I started feeling shitty about it. I felt like my whole focus was on getting a well-paying job after school and I didn't really have any interest in what I was doing.

I wanted to go after something interesting and challenging, so I picked mathematics. But, I got way more than I bargained for. I know I am just going to get eaten alive when I get to my junior and senior years. The stress that I have put on myself trying to figure out these proofs is just unbearable. I feel like seriously ripping my hair out. I've spent entire days staring at problems with nothing to show for it. Then, I failed my test last week. I really can't see myself going much further.

So now I'm looking at sciences and trying desperately to find something I'm interested in. I have this desire to study something difficult. When someone asks what I majored in, I want them to be impressed for some reason. It's some kind of self-validation thing I guess. I want to show myself that I'm smart after the math thing didn't work out. Problem is, a lot of things I'm interested in require at least some proficiency in mathematics.

So I honestly have no idea what to do. I need a break from this shit.

Venting over.

 

[lefty]

At some point in the future I plan on registering at a random high school and pretend to be a senior.

 

[The Monkey]

My life's pretty good, but I'm really confused about where I'm going with my college education, so that is stressing me out pretty badly. I was majoring in business economics and everything was good, but then I started feeling shitty about it. I felt like my whole focus was on getting a well-paying job after school and I didn't really have any interest in what I was doing.

I wanted to go after something interesting and challenging, so I picked mathematics. But, I got way more than I bargained for. I know I am just going to get eaten alive when I get to my junior and senior years. The stress that I have put on myself trying to figure out these proofs is just unbearable. I feel like seriously ripping my hair out. I've spent entire days staring at problems with nothing to show for it. Then, I failed my test last week. I really can't see myself going much further.

So now I'm looking at sciences and trying desperately to find something I'm interested in. I have this desire to study something difficult. When someone asks what I majored in, I want them to be impressed for some reason. It's some kind of self-validation thing I guess. I want to show myself that I'm smart after the math thing didn't work out. Problem is, a lot of things I'm interested in require at least some proficiency in mathematics.

So I honestly have no idea what to do. I need a break from this shit.

Venting over.

You sure you have to study business-related subjects ? Sounds like you're quite bored with it. Why not explore the social sciences or the humanities?

 

[nipples]

At some point in the future I plan on registering at a random high school and pretend to be a senior.

That sounds like loads of fun.

 

[swan_song1973]

id say my life is pretty balanced at the moment.

 

[Warped]

I had a terrible day at work today. Well only because my boss called me in today. I pretty much came in because we had the President of the company come in and we had to clean up the store. Then after we got the "best store in the region award" he left and so did about half the associates. Then this associate decides to take a 1 and half hour lunch break and I'm waiting a very long time before I get to go on lunch and I get to Subway and the stupid **** screws up my order 4 times and hes so ****ing slow. I was ready to knock him out and do it myself. How can you screw up a BLT?!? Then when I was about to leave the same guy who took the ridiculously long lunch left early and I had to wait for another associate to take over the area because I had all the keys. And then when I was walking out of the store the overnight associate kept asking me questions on what key opens what case and I was ready to flip.

Anyway tomorrow should be better

 

[mastag]

Very meh, waiting for my senior year to ****ing end. Can't wait for college. Getting accepted felt awesome.

 

[mchammer75040]

Many people in abject poverty tend to be happier then the miserable bastards in Western countries. Probably because they have low expectations, a much simpler if not easier lifestyle, a lot of human contact and are at peace with their place in the world. We, on the other hand, have so much and so little to show for it.

Ahh I'm sorry, not to start a flame war but do you even know what abject poverty means?
google results NSFW:

Spoiler

Yea they sure do look happy don't they?

On that note, I grew up in one of the richest parts of the country where everyone is miserable, rude and grumpy. I moved to one of the poorest parts of the country - where everyone is happy, cheerful and friendly. And the quality of life is infinitely higher, even though the cars on the driveway are nowhere near as flashy.

Yea but that's different..its just like Farrowlesparrow said you two clearly aren't talking about the same thing. You're obviously not talking about abject poverty:

. Christ, how many people rave about their student days and how it was the best three years of their lives, despite being really, really poor?

There is a difference between being college poor and actually living in ABJECT POVERTY.
For starters, the fact that you are going to any kind of university suggests that you or your family probably have money to begin with. Its not just a matter of saying "hey, material goods don't change anything!", do you seriously think most people haven't figured this out?
Hell I never lived in abject poverty, but I've come from a very poor community where everyone is miserable, not because of not owning things but because they have shit living conditions. The fact is most poor people, work at jobs they hate just to make it by, and that's bad enough not to mention the crime, drug abuse..etc. that pops up in these places. In my own situation it was miserable, but mine wasn't even half as bad as those in actual...abject poverty. What do you think those people feel like?

No, but I bet you'd rather be your younger self and skint than wealthy and working 80 hour weeks, your entire life crumbling around you as you don't have the time or energy to do anything except work.

...What? In my distant family, I know of two people who are multi-millionaires...I don't know them that well but they seem perfectly happy to me. Sure they could be miserable, but come on...assuming that just because you ran into a couple of rich, stuck up snobs doesn't mean that they are all that way. Besides, there is a reason why they are rich to begin with, obviously they are very passionate about their work.
:angel:

 

[mechanicallizard]

Can't really help out if I don't know what's wrong.

Could just be culture shock, who knows.

**** culture shock. this place just sucks.
one thing that gets me is the lack of trees. WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?
and so much ****ing concrete. concrete can/should **** off and die.
and no animals. i went for a thirteen mile hike in that lake district.
i saw maybe 10 sheep.
there arent even any insects or flies.
i hate flies, but WHERE DID THEY GO how can they not be there?
in africa theyre ****ing EVERYWHERE

 

[mchammer75040]

i hate flies, but WHERE DID THEY GO how can they not be there?
in africa theyre ****ing EVERYWHERE

Yea and carrying diseases and shit too!

honestly, id rather be in a third world country with no electricity,
shit water, dirt roads, etc, etc, than here. this. place. sucks.
i really just dont get how/why (WHY?!?!) people live here.

Are you ****in serious?

 

[mechanicallizard]

Yea and carrying diseases and shit too!

i lived there 12 years and only heard of a few people getting sick off flies.
its all bullshit.

Are you ****in serious?

i have never been so serious. im not sure why i prefer things like that,
but i guess its just what im used to. kinda livens things up a bit.

 

[Cephius]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article...ng_nothing&in_article_id=627667&in_page_id=34

Apparently I'm a "neet" at least until I go back to university in September.

 

[mchammer75040]

i lived there 12 years and only heard of a few people getting sick off flies.
its all bullshit.

Oh yea? And where exactly did you live in Africa?
What about Leishmaniasis, African Trypanosomiasis, Myiasis, or Typhoid?
Doesn't sound like bs to me.

Just because at the time you didn't hear about it, doesn't mean it isnt a serious problem.

i have never been so serious. im not sure why i prefer things like that,
but i guess its just what im used to. kinda livens things up a bit.

That is the dumbest ****in thing I've ever heard.

 

[Eejit]

Having exams in the coming weeks, that's pretty meh. Apart from that things are fairly dandy.

 

[mechanicallizard]

Oh yea? And where exactly did you live in Africa?
What about Leishmaniasis, African Trypanosomiasis, Myiasis, or Typhoid?
Doesn't sound like bs to me.

ive been around most of, if not all southern africa. and yes, you are correct,
the shit is there. but in most of the places that its located, the people
are so ****ing stupid they bring it on themselves. when you simply walk
round the back of the house and take a shit, no hole, just right there, and the whole family
does this, what do you ****ING EXPECT?!? and then they have the nerve to complain
that 'its not their fault' that theyre sick and dying.
and when they live in a town/village and everyones doing it, you lose both
sympathy and patience. i mean come on, for ****s sake.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Sounds like they need a teacher.

 

[mechanicallizard]

Sounds like they need a teacher.

they need a shovel and some ****ing toilet paper.

 

[NeptuneUK]

Nothing wrong with 'meh'
Meh is sure better than crappy.

I spent all my money on nice things, so now I have none.... meh!
But sooner or later I will acquire more money to recklessly spend! GOOD TIMES!

 

[repiV]

Ahh I'm sorry, not to start a flame war but do you even know what abject poverty means?

Yea they sure do look happy don't they?

"Abject" is a subjective term. I come from London so I've known more than a few people from third world countries in my time. Plenty of them preferred their home countries, and judging by this thread it's not only people I've met.

There are many peoples on this planet who continue to live a tribal existence, unconcerned with any of our "advances" in life. I don't suppose they're any less happy than your average Brit. I wouldn't be surprised if it was generally the other way around.

In fact I went out with a girl from Trinidad a couple of years ago. It might not be Somalia, but it's extremely poor, crime-ridden, corrupt and you can't rely on basic services. She found life over here very depressing and went back home after less than a year.

Yea but that's different..its just like Farrowlesparrow said you two clearly aren't talking about the same thing. You're obviously not talking about abject poverty:

Like I said, "abject" is a subjective term.

There is a difference between being college poor and actually living in ABJECT POVERTY.

College poor is about as poor as you can actually get in Western society, so that's all that really matters.

For starters, the fact that you are going to any kind of university suggests that you or your family probably have money to begin with. Its not just a matter of saying "hey, material goods don't change anything!", do you seriously think most people haven't figured this out?

It might suggest that in America, but it doesn't suggest that here. A friend of mine lives off £5000 a year in student loan and a part-time job, with no help whatsoever from his parents. It's not unusual. He also puts in about 70 hours a week of uni work, as he studies physics.

Hell I never lived in abject poverty, but I've come from a very poor community where everyone is miserable, not because of not owning things but because they have shit living conditions. The fact is most poor people, work at jobs they hate just to make it by, and that's bad enough not to mention the crime, drug abuse..etc. that pops up in these places. In my own situation it was miserable, but mine wasn't even half as bad as those in actual...abject poverty. What do you think those people feel like?

Most people work at jobs they hate just to make it by, regardless of whether or not they are poor. The days of the aristocracy are somewhat behind us, I'd be homeless within a month or two of unemployment just like everyone else. Crime and drug abuse is a product of people being shitheads, and you can't excuse that by blaming it on poverty. People are responsible for their own behaviour, contrary to popular belief. Their shit living conditions were probably of their own making. Have you ever considered that it's not the poverty that causes the attitude, but the attitude that causes the poverty?

...What? In my distant family, I know of two people who are multi-millionaires...I don't know them that well but they seem perfectly happy to me. Sure they could be miserable, but come on...assuming that just because you ran into a couple of rich, stuck up snobs doesn't mean that they are all that way. Besides, there is a reason why they are rich to begin with, obviously they are very passionate about their work.
:angel:

Where did I say anything about rich, stuck up snobs? I've worked in high earning careers with high earning people, and they put on a brave face but most of them are miserable as sin, or constantly stressed because their work consumes their lives and to have to keep earning lots of money to sustain their financial commitments is a precarious perch to be sitting on. An old manager of mine gave up his sales job and took a massive paycut to become the sales manager because he was literally going insane from the amount of work he was doing.

I see absolutely no evidence to suggest that the richer people in my company now are any happier at all than those of us who are struggling a bit. My boss owns several properties, an enormous boat and he just bought a Ferrari F430, but he's obviously not that happy. He's also always pointing out how envious he is of my sportsbike, as his wife won't let him have one. Money can't buy you everything.

I've been there, done that. It's a mugs game. I work hard when I'm at work, but I leave the office on time every day and I get a decent living in return. More money can't make up for having a shit life.

**** culture shock. this place just sucks.
one thing that gets me is the lack of trees. WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?
and so much ****ing concrete. concrete can/should **** off and die.

Our countryside is renowned for its trees. Maybe you're just not going to the right places. :|

You're welcome to come and visit me in Devon if you like, the south east is by far the most overpopulated and least beautiful part of the country. There are some stunning landscapes elsewhere.

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2726/22/32/692808313/n692808313_1677913_2681151.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2726/22/32/692808313/n692808313_1677919_4698249.jpg

We even get palm trees growing naturally down here.

and no animals. i went for a thirteen mile hike in that lake district.
i saw maybe 10 sheep.
there arent even any insects or flies.
i hate flies, but WHERE DID THEY GO how can they not be there?
in africa theyre ****ing EVERYWHERE

We're just coming out of the winter. Flies can't survive here all year round. There's more than enough of the little bastards here in the summer.

Oh yea? And where exactly did you live in Africa?
What about Leishmaniasis, African Trypanosomiasis, Myiasis, or Typhoid?
Doesn't sound like bs to me.

Just because at the time you didn't hear about it, doesn't mean it isnt a serious problem.


That is the dumbest ****in thing I've ever heard.

American in knows more about Africa than African dude does shocker. Better close that window, your credibility is blowing away...