Thursday, May 22, 2014

Depleted

Even though I want to journal, I haven't been able to force myself to do it.  I m not sure I have anything new to say.  Yes my life circumstances have changed since the last time I posted, I found a job that is seemingly squarely within my interests, with an organization that is affording me the autonomy that will hopefully avoid the type of interpersonal conflicts that ruined my ability to feel like I could truly succeed at my last two jobs.  But as I have desperately tried to do everything right, to make sure my life circumstances improved and not further deteriorate no matter how bad I was feeling internally, by exercising every day, by taking Spanish lessons, by volunteering, by diligently applying for jobs, by eating right and trying to save every penny, by finding the medical services I needed no matter what cost --- and then doing everything in power in my new environment to impress people, ingratiate myself, to pour my energy and heart into the project, to be productive, to learn the new terrain, to reach out, to speak in spanish and keep improving, to save money by staying with family and find a place to live that will be affordable,  ---- i am not sure any of my internal feelings have changed.  Every continuing hiccup, not having an office or workspace, mini breakdowns, mistakes in my health insurance plan, --- just seems to indicate to me that i can't seem to ever get ahead of the hardships life throws my way.  I feel weak.  Everyday I want to give up.  I feel like a failure and think I am on the tipping point of throwing everything I've worked so hard to put in place with the hope of a better future.  I've been so consumed with basic survival, that I haven't even been able to enjoy or fret about things that seem normal in the lives of other, dating, having a family, having a home, buying material items.   I fantasize about a time out from life - there is no such thing.  I feel no one actually sees the gravity of my suffering, i also fantasize about being so self destructive that the pain i feel would finally be visible to my friends, family, everyone.  But I know then my worsened life circumstances would really be my fault in that moment.   It's hard to feel like I am no further ahead in fighting the demons that haunted me in my adolescence, twenty years later.  People want to celebrate the interesting experiences I've had in my life, remind me that I am great person, but it does little to provide comfort or assurance to me.  I wonder if all of this is because I chose the legal profession.  Well, no point wishing I had made other decisions in my life, i must live with what i have - but all i want to do is lie on the floor, hiding under a blanket and wait for the perpetual storm to pass.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. I could have written that. I know how you feel, literally experiencing similar things in my own life.

Have you weathered the storm? Did you keep a journal to serve as breadcrumb trail to lead others out of the storm? If you did, I could use a hand up. If you didn't, it's okay I will..

zoc said...

I have weathered the storm, but still feel like "better" is still far down the road, if you know what I mean. I did keep a journal but mostly to help me when things all fall apart again in the future. Please share anything you write!

Anonymous said...

I was happy to hear you weathered the storm, and completely understood "better" still being down the road. Yesterday I posted the following to Facebook, and I wanted to share it with you. It's worth the read.

___
*Back In Black*

As '14 draws to a close I reflect on life as I know it. Many who know me might be surprised to hear the last couple years have been the most difficult of my life. I've been harshly judged by people closest to me, watched someone I'd considered a best friend choose to take their leave from my life, had family members question my stability when I chose to alter career path in favor of chasing my dreams, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. These things add up, and it brings me no joy to admit over the last few years I stumbled, lost myself.. nearly gave up...

I'd have to consider myself in the Red all of 2014

As painful as these experiences have been, they've also provided me deep insight into life and the human experience we share - far more than can be described in a single FB post. I hope to dedicate part of my 2015 towards sharing some of this insight, as I believe it could be life changing for some. For now I'll start with what I feel is most powerful.

Paramount to any other insight I may in the future share is this: Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - is more crucial to your life than WHAT YOU BELIEVE. Doesn't matter how you arrive at believing it. Doesn't matter what other people believe (unless you're letting them affect your beliefs!). I can comfortably promise you - no matter who you are - that your life is currently and will continue playing out in terms directly related to what you believe.

Cliches have propensity to sound trite but this doesn't affect the value of the message and for my money Henry Ford's "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right" hints at the most valuable message there is. Consider this, the person that believes they deserve to and can accomplish something hits setbacks unfazed, pushing through because he or she knows they can and deserve to accomplish the goal. The person that doesn't believe will prefer to see any setback as proof they're "right" about not being capable of accomplishing their goal, quitting on the spot, declaring "woe is me". Former will many times accomplish the goal earning higher quality of life, latter will have to be nearly setback free for any chance at success.

So if you can agree with me on the above, then I have some beautiful info for you. You Get To Choose What You Believe. Pretty powerful stuff I'm hinting at here; what you believe dictates your life AND you get to choose it?! Sweet. The trick is allowing yourself to believe the right things. So let's see if I can take my own advice.

I'd have to consider 2014 a wonderful year. "But Billy, you've been in the Red all year" you might say. Well, today I choose to believe I've been making progress all year long. I choose to believe I'm quite nearly Back In Black. I choose to believe 2015 is the year dreams are made of, and as a result I believe no setback shall sway me from pursuing my dreams and continuing to build myself a meaningfully fulfilling life.

What will you choose to believe in 2015?

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