It feels nice to bike and feel the wind in your hair and huddle into your jacket keeping you warm. I also actively take breaks from playing video games to sit and feel intense gratitude and happiness toward the game. And oranges are absolutely delicious, and singing loud makes me feel alive.
I also like finding flowers in springtime (and putting them into my journal) and seeing/hearing great big flocks of crows in the autumn. Those are seasonal though, not a daily pleasure that keeps me going no matter what.
It used to be various substances but now it's making sure my kid has all the happiness and love that I wish I had growing up and the smile on my wife's face when she sees how happy I've become
Debt to family members. If I pay them off, I'll have a reason to keep living. If i decide to run or kill myself, then I'll just be "a coward" and "selfish".
But I've had bad luck my whole life. I hope I'll be able to pay them off one day, but the idea of suicide has been crossing my mind daily. I've been unemployed since covid except for 1 job which lasted a month, and another job this December which may only last a month.
I am out of money. I just graduated university with a Bachelors Degree, and unlike most of my colleagues, I've been unable to get a job in the industry.
My school loans are coming to collect in January. My whole family is poor. I'm the realistic example of a poor person graduating with a degree. I'm stuck poor, and I will probably die poor.
A lot of bummer answers here and they are many feelings I have had, but now I am old, and I look at it like this. I once didn’t exist. One day, I will again not exist and I’ll never exist again. In the meantime, I get a very brief glimpse to open my eyes and see the universe. In it is a lot of things. Among them love, mac and cheese, peanut butter, sex, and dancing. A hearty laugh and a warm hug is worth all the pain it comes with.
I'm not sure. Living feels uncomfortable but the thought of dying and all the suffering it would cause is even more uncomfortable. I'm not sure I want to be here but if I wasn't, my family would be far, far worse off and that makes me feel bad.
Because I have many things I want to build, or attempt to build.
After living most of my life believing I had no mechanical skills, and all the things I wanted to help build were just pipe dreams and impossible for me but possible for others, I've finally learned that I have meaningful skills that can solve real mechanical problems.
I'm too cynical to think I can solve the world's problems for the masses, but maybe I can increase the output of a machine by 5% without causing it to break too often. Or maybe I can get a product made at the same rate but with less waste.
If I'm improving in any way shape or form then I'm a step out of the dark. This can be from anything like going to the gym, improving on my hobbies, or even learning something new.
I figured out how to feel better. It's what we've been told all along but didn't want to hear. From the outside it looks like a prescription for a miserable, dull, joyless life. In reality it opens up the possibility of feeling good, happy, and free.
Being the best at things. There's nothing better than the feeling of being absolutely stellar at something. I try to develop new skills everyday, and try to find the most effective and efficient way to do everything.
Lack of commitment, follow through, cowardice preventing me from doing what I really want to do.
Which means, I don't have that out. I can curl inward, f*ck everything, I'm done, and everything gets worse and worse. Not sustainable.
If I'm stuck here, no way out, I suppose only way left is to try to figure out how to get out of this dark space. It doesn't have to be fixed all at once. Just do one small good thing for yourself. Give yourself time to heal, recover. Take it slow. The only way things can change is by actions. Take a shower. Go to goodwill, spend $ on clothes that isn't sweatpants and tattered t-shirts. ..
If I keep at this, one small step at a time, I'm laying in a solid foundation, preparing for that point in future where I'll be able to go back to that goodwill, ask if they're hiring. Sure, not the cushy $75k job you had b4 becoming homeless. It's better than staying on SSI, trapped below poverty level in overcrowded slums.
The simple joys in life. My relationship with my hubby, cooking a good meal, having a decent cup of tea, reading a good book, there are so many reasons to enjoy life.