You're getting old

Does anyone know of that one South Park episode where Stan is diagnoses with a condition called 'Being a cynical *sshole'?

I've felt like Stan for many years. I still do a lot actually. I'm 35 years now and I feel that due to mental health problems I wasted many years of my life. I could've had a serious career, relationships but now I feel like I missed something.

As if my best years are behind me. As if I'm 'too late' to make anything of my life anymore!

I was wondering if anyone else feels or felt this way. And if so, did you manage to get over it?

As you get older you become wiser and more experienced and you get to know the dark side of the world. Before I was ignorant. But now it seems like a lot of things are 'shit' to me as I began to understand how things really work in this world!

 

Thanks for your replies.

They give me a positive vibe. I guess being 35 isn't that old. To be honest I still felt quite young physically.

Mentally I was in the gutter though. Lately I'm getting this new kind of therapy. It seems to be working.
My issue is mainly that I was frozen by fear. Not just the fear of who I am, but expressing myself, being me, and doing the things that I want to do.

Society, and life events shape you. But they don't define who you are. I am still me. It's a quest to become me again, and when I succeed I will start to feel, and become happy again.
Of course, I need to jump into action. My therapist told me to go out for a walk every day. To breathe. Feel. And you will discover yourself. In turn, you will know what you want. Only then you can begin to pursue what you want - and start living again.

And this kind of therapy is working for me! All those clichés; 'Do what you love', 'Follow your heart', 'Exercise is healthy for the mind' are true. They're so obvious - but I can count the people who take walks daily on half a hand. To listen to yourself and act on it can be challenge. But to summarize; Walk. Breathe. Feel.

 

That is interesting! I never really finish books though. But the description of the book and the comments below it are good enough food for thought. Heh, I've always got so many things on my mind that's probably one of the reasons why I can't finish anything. There are just so many things to do, to be excited about!

 

Hi, personally I managed to pick up my personal projects again which I'm really happy about. Something happened to me and I discovered new things about myself.

The weird thing is, you control your mind better than you think you do. I won't lie; it took me many years to climb out the pit of depression.
But depression can really be tackled. In even in these times. After battling my negative thoughts for years; I feel like I've got the upper hand again.

Depression happens when you don't action on the feelings you have. Whenever I feel like I'm grinding to a halt, I decide to jump into ACTION.
Like literall action. Don't stay inside/home all day. Go for a walk, if only for 10 minutes. I know it's cold. No more self-pity!

I know I wasn't too blame for what happened to me, but I can choose between action and doing nothing. Which one has your preference?
If you want to reach something - take action! Don't wait, take action NOW. The most important thing to do is to make a start.

I don't work on my projects full days, usually 2-3 hours per session, sometimes an additional hour or 2 on a given day.

In my experience depression follows when you:
1) Ignore your feelings and push them away
2) Aren't physically active
3) You don't take any action, if only a small action to get started
4) Fail to talk positively to yourself. I can't do it? Yes I CAN!

Don't indulge yourself in self-pity any longer and become a man of action. Rather many small steps than one big one to stay motivated.

Anyway I see you already go outside of the house a lot and get a lot of exercise. That's excellent you're a lot more active than I am.
So my guess is you don't follow 'your heart'. I know it's a cliche but by god it's true. A sense of progress is incredibly important in a man's life.
Remember how men are competitive and brag about their achievements? Not fulfilling or trying to accomplish goals will stop you dead in your tracks. It's my opinion a man needs purpose in life!

Perhaps try to open to yourself and others about your feelings. Is there something that you need to get off of your chest or want to solve? Share it with and talk to people!
Anything better than letting your thoughts and feelings pile up inside and become a huge energy drain. The social aspect is really important. I feel horrible if I have not spoken to anyone important to me every day, and/or when I'm stuck in the house all day.

But please, do yourself a favor - we all deserve it - try to drop the self-pity, this is what's keeping you in a lazy comfort zone of nothingness.

By the way this is in no means personal or offensive, but this is just what helps me to stay positive and in mentally good shape.

Anyway. There's nothing wrong with feeling sad, or to cry, these are just emotions you need to let flow. But self-pity happens when the emotions are over but we still decide not to do anything about our situation.

Of course, my journey is not complete yet. But what I've written above helps me. I noticed that I CAN do, think, feel things if I CHOOSE to. We're all FREE men! We aren't enslaved, or living in the gutter. We have access to internet, a filled refridgerator, etc. I should be more grateful for what I have, and I'm going to WORK for it to get more of the good stuff.