I just got put in this situation today...
It happened around 3:30 pm, I opened up the mail box to see the letter I had been waiting a month for. My transfer application was rejected. I am now looking for an apartment back in Boulder, away from all my friends and family. This effectively puts my life on hold for another nine months. Being there only strained what I had back home, I lost a good friend, was only back home to witness the death of two more. On top of this its been straining my relationship with my SO and its almost too late to save it.
But I have to go back, I can't stay at home without crippling my future. Going back is just another nine months of hell. Hopefully.
[–] usethemath 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Kept going. The misses and I had a spat, realized I shouldn't have left, she realized I should have left a long time ago. "If you're going through hell, keep on going."
[–] TelescopiumHerscheli 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I've never been in that situation. In my experience there's almost always a way back, and there's always been somewhere else to go.
[–] shoulderdestruction 0 points 33 points 33 points (+33|-0) ago
I'll bite on this one.
I'm at a point in my life where I'm very fortunate. I'm approaching my mid 30's. All of my grandparents are still alive, and so are my parents.
I have a beautiful wife and a son that's about to start 1st grade next month. I've had a stable job that hasn't given me grey hair or back troubles for over ten years now. We are at a point where we can financially handle most minor wrenches life throws in our spokes.
Throughout all of this, I've transitioned well into adulthood, and I'm sure a lot of people older than me can attest to this, I still feel like I'm a kid most of the time....just winging it as I go.
But sometimes -- sometimes late at night when I'm the only one left awake -- I look back on that kid, the true kid that I once was, and I realise that there comes a point where you can never go back. I don't mean literally. I mean that responsibility and work creeps up on you like a thief, and at some point you notice that you're a completely different person that you once were.
And it's not just black and white. In some areas I've changed for the better, and some for the worse. I say that I'll try to do better in the bad areas, but time keeps passing faster and faster and those areas keep getting less and less mental attention.
But it's not bad at all, this getting older. I'd like to say I'm wiser, but all I can picture when I say that is my Dad's face, and this is the really funny part... this memory of my dad telling me I didn't know shit when I was around 8 or 9 years old once when I was being a real smartass to him. Even now when I think I have things figured out, I picture my Dad's face telling me that, and at this point in my life, I'm now older than he was when he said it, and it still makes me feel like I'm a little helpless child again.
The only place left to go is forward.
[–] Asstronaut 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
My advice to young people would be: Don't forget that little child inside you. Play as often as you can. I'm almost 40 and I'm still able to step into my kid's fantasy world. And I absolutely love it.
[–] ilovepussy 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Well fuck, I can't top that. You are wise beyond your years. Stay true to yourself.
[–] puppy528 ago
Simply put, I did without. I got to know Hunger on a first-name basis. I learned how to be invisible and tough at the same time. I was always fortunate enough to not be both homeless and vehicle-less at the same time, despite long bouts of either. I took jobs meant for teenagers, and often walked over a mile to get to them. I "toughed it out" and learned to "make do" and all those other platitudes that really just mean not having any other effing choice.
Eventually, inch by inch, I got better at life, and so life got better. I lost literally a good ten-fifteen years fighting tooth-and-nail just to have someplace, anyplace to be, but I do have such a place now. I am home. I wouldn't say I'm well-off now---quite the contrary; I know I'm only a few kindnesses from truly wonderful people away from being right back destitute and hungry, But I am definitely home now, and I definitely have my own someplace to go. I have lived in the same apt now (with my name on the lease, too!) for literally the longest point in my entire life, I worry about what to make for dinner rather than when I'm going to eat again, and I have the love of a most wonderful woman asleep next to me as I write this.
TL,DR; had no place to go, eventually made my own. Sucked doing it, tho. Sucked hard.