I went back to my hometown for a few days recently and it's been on my mind ever since.

I used to have this group of friends in high school and we'd pretty much spend every day together. Didn't even matter what we were doing. Half the time we'd just drive around or sit in someone's driveway talking about nothing.

We all moved away eventually. Some for school, some for work. Nobody really made a big deal out of it at the time.

Anyway I went back last week and decided to drive around a bit. Most of the town looks pretty much how I remember it, even the Chinese place we used to order from every Friday is still around. Got takeout there one evening and noticed they're putting ads in the fortune cookies now, which was a first for me.

Ended up driving past my friend's old house and remembered how we'd sit outside until like 3 in the morning during summer break.

The house looks the same but his family doesn't live there anymore. Haven't spoken to him in almost two years either.

Kind of sad how you can go from seeing people every single day to barely knowing anything about their lives.

I always thought I missed my hometown, but after going back I'm starting to think I just miss having all my friends around and not having much to worry about.

How much of missing your hometown is really just wishing you could go back to how things used to be?

Prior to this my life was amazing. I had an amazing job, friends, and was making good money. Since September 2025 I’ve experienced the following setbacks:

Lost my manager and mentor due to a company acquisition

My dog died

Lost good friendships that I though would last

My father passed away

Had an identity theft

Struggled at my job

Lost my motivation and happiness and suffering through depression

Got put on a PIP at work and will likely be fired in December

Struggling to find a new job while experiencing a toxic manager and culture at my current job

Please tell me things will get better. I’ve suffered so much setback and tragedies this past year that all I want is one good thing to happen to me so I have something to smile about.

I know this has been said for a while now but I’m only just realising it fully. Anytime we have a problem or want to talk to something we open an app to talk to a robot Ai. We never did this a few years ago…

When we're younger, we worry so much about what people think, fitting in, and trying to impress everyone.

But with time, some things just stop mattering.

What's one thing you used to care about a lot but don't care about anymore?

I'm 30 years old and 115 days into recovery from drugs, alcohol and gambling.

For a long time, I felt like I was falling behind everyone else. People were building careers, relationships, buying houses and getting on with their lives while I was struggling with my own problems.

I'm now trying to build a life that I'm actually proud of.

I'm working on my physical health, my mental health, my relationships, my recovery and figuring out what I want to do with my future.

Some days I feel hopeful. Other days I feel overwhelmed by how much work there is still to do.

But I'm starting to realise that being behind where I thought I'd be at 30 doesn't mean I've missed my chance.

Anyone else ever feel like they're starting over later in life? How did you deal with it?

I struggle to know what I really need to do in life..

Why should something be even worth it. Have no hobbies or passions.. nothing interests me much....i feel like wasting time and a living waste of oxygen sometimes. With each day same as the last just less hair and aging.

Any advice on how you found out what you wanted to do in life?

Hii , I'm 24 M , from India.

I just realised that once when I had friends,we dreamed of earning as much as we could full fill our expenses.

But there were so many friends who are lacking behind .

Later it creates a problem that you could fullfill your expenses but others couldn't.

I understood that if someone is doing really well, he/she leaves behind a lot . People who catchup are trying level best , but people who couldn't hide somewhere in the mist. Also when we want to be in a position we should leave behind the current position, that's they price I paid .

I just thought about this but does anyone else think it’s surreal we’re living in the age where media like movies or tv shows portray robots (like AI and other things) taking over the world one day and that we now have AI and robots that you can buy? How our and future generations can experience a robot take over?

Who are the people that you look up to and what about them inspires you?

I’m asking because am going through a life transition and need some motivation

What do you do when you are at the time that some things you can't control?

I just got lay-off on my job. My full time client for over 2 years. Bills pilling up, savings 0. 😭

I felt stucked.

i know what i want to achieve, already planned my job abroad realistically, my personality and thought process being stable
everyday i think of the same goals. for awhile now life has been very boring
is there something i can possibly do to change this trajectory
like for example i thought of learning and playing chess to meet people and have something new

I just turned 25 and I feel like a loser. I've got no job. As I'm preparing for govt exams, all my friends are now earning. one of my friends who was in school with me and was terrible at studies ended up becoming most successful among our friends. Even though I thought he was a bully and will surely face karma for his bad deeds but he got rich and famous in sports, to the point where local guy's created his fan edit reels. And when I saw my life I realised how behind I am from everyone. I was the most privileged kid in my class at school I looked down on every one and never realised how mean I was until I turned 25 and now I think karma was behind me all this time. I've got no income I'm still surviving on parents money. Even my juniors have bought car from their own income. I've got no skill no passion no vision. Thanks for reading my life.

Hello reddit, this is one of the few times i have posted/written on here. Let me paint the picture for you. I’m 19M, I have been wondering about life ever since I had a very close relative pass. From then till now my mind is always in deep black clouds when i get reminded of death and the infinite time passing in nothingness (Im sorry if i sparked uncomfortable thoughts).

In this state it also doesn’t help that i get reminded of it by the internet as well, instagram, tiktok, YouTube they all give me videos about it and they kill me. Ever since the passing i have just been building up the consciousness of death, it started off as something terrifying and it kept getting worse and worse and now my picture of death has evolved to this.

Our life starts at a point in time which we do not choose in a body we do not choose in a place we also do not choose with people/beings we do not choose, after that has been confirmed for us we start our life, learn, love, smile, suffer. All of this “life” happens in each of our own worlds that we cannot give others definitive proof that we actually felt all of this.

Basically we cannot prove to others of our consciousness, and by that when we do live our life out all that was and ever will be in our point of view ends. In the infinite time the universe is thought to have all of what will happen is only in the time that I/you live. I find this chaotically terrifyingly… beautiful maybe?

After this I continued on to thinking about time. Time i have started to look at it as something that passes, and has no depth. Every hour is starting to feel like a minute and every minute is starting to feel like a second, and with that i reach a point where i start imagining myself right before death. And it honestly terrifies me.

These are my usual thoughts, BUT sometimes there is light that punches through those dark clouds. Recently when these thoughts popped in my head I carved a new way of thinking of death, I started leaning on our nature’s strongest trait, CURIOSITY.

I don’t know how but in some way i found comfort in the discomfort? By being curious about what comes after death I started kinda not fearing it in a way. Start of a new adventure that no one knows anything about. Maybe when we die infinite time passes which for us would be an instant, and the same atoms that made me me and you you align again in a different life-form with our consciousness and bring us back again.

Maybe this alignment of the atoms that make up our minds and consciousness mean something more, maybe the creation of our consciousness has a particular formula or order like different elements have to be that element, or maybe we develop AI so far that it holds up the internet for another 20 billion years and the same atoms that make me up now are brought back and i look at this comment again. Who knows? Just writing as the train of thought is passing by. This is my view on life as of now.

I’d love to hear what others make up from this. And please take in account that english is not my first language so some concepts may not be explained properly. Love.

I regret being available for everyone. I feel like I've helped people a lot, and now I hate it. I have always been kind to everyone ,stupid me always put others needs first. I'm not asking any of them to do the same for me. I just want them to treat me well. In the end, I'm just the 'helper friend. Every single person I know either calls me to ask for a favor or to borrow money. None of them ask how I'm doing. Now, I know exactly why they're calling before I even answer. This is what i have been feeling for the past days

Married since 2019 and dad to twin boys who I love more than anything.

My wife and I have struggled for years. We kept trying to patch things up, convincing ourselves things would eventually click back into place, but at some point we stopped being husband and wife and just became two people trying to get through the day. Intimacy died about three years ago after a long stretch of failed attempts to conceive naturally. Two years later we went through IVF as a last ditch effort to have kids, naively thinking this would maybe bring us closer again.

The boys arriving didn't cause the cracks, they just further exposed the damage underneath.

We co-parent well. We rarely argue. There’s still care there, just no intimacy, no affection, no real connection anymore. Separation feels impossible right now, financially, emotionally and practically speaking. Neither of us wants to blow up the family or make life harder for the boys.

So here I am.

A bit about me - I'm music obsessed. I play piano, guitar, sing, and perform trad Scots/Irish music a couple times a month at a local posh bar. It can be a strange experience, playing to a room full of seemingly happy couples, gazing into each other's eyes, laughing and flirting, while I languish in these unfortunate circumstances. I read a lot (mainly fantasy). I try to run as often as I can, although this dad bod is creeping up on me. Feel free to dm if any of this resonates.

Hi Reddit, I am a 20 year old college student that is about to sign a lease for an apartment with three other people, and I am just scared. I am so scared of saving up money and if everything will work out or not. I have been trying to escape a horrible home situation for ages, and this apartment is the last step to me being completely free from my familial ties. But I am scared about working three jobs, doing LSATS and taking rigorous courses all the while trying to make sure I don’t end up homeless. I guess I just want to know if my situation is okay? If I will be able to do it? This may be a bad question but some kind advice would really help me out. Thanks.

Problems, Problems are everywhere
My life is in such a mess
I feel so sad and miserable
With worry, anxiety and stress

It all started when I was a child
My exams made me cry
And then, it was heartbreak
I looked up at the sky and asked ‘Why?’

And then, I tried to succeed
But failure came in the way
My life was full of sleepless nights
I faced problems every day

I was worried and there was fear
And this stress cost me very dear
I had anxiety attacks in my mind
My depression left all Peace behind

Everybody has problems as I looked around
There was hate and revenge on the ground
Jealousy and anger were here and there
The problem monsters were everywhere

But then I stopped and I took a pause
Everybody has problems but what is the cause
Who is the one who suffers the pain
I searched for the answer, not in vain

I could see the misery of the mind
Suffering of physical pain, a different kind
But far worse was the agony of the ego
This triple suffering was part of the show

So are we meant just to cry and to die?
As the problems trouble, must we just lie
Aha, no! I found there was a magic
One solution with a clear logic

Who is it that suffers the pain?
Body-mind-ego cries again and again
But when I Realized I was the Divine Soul
There were no problems, I achieved my goal

My problems disappeared like the morning mist
Peace, Joy and Bliss I kissed
It was when I Realized the Truth
When I went to the bottom of the root

We suffer because of our ignorance
Problems are because we are blind
We think we are the one that is ME
The body, the ego, and the mind

When we are Enlightened with the Truth
We can catch the evil brute
The mind is the biggest enemy of all
Along with the ego, it makes us fall

When I saw the mind was full of junk
I tamed the monkey and made it a monk
And as I transcended all evil thoughts
All my problems I had fought

For the problems don’t actually belong to me
Ignorance makes me live with the wrong identity
When I Realize I am the Divine Spirit
Then all my problems disappear with it

For then I know life is just like a dream
No need to worry, no need to scream
At the end it will be time to go
Forget your problems, it is just a show

Poverty is a state of mind
Don’t you know you leave everything behind
But though we see this at every death
We are greedy till our last breath

Problems are many, but the solution is one
Realize the Truth and the battle is won
Enlightenment will leave all problems behind
Bliss, Peace and Happiness you will find.

​

Recently, I've been thinking about how we sometimes repeat the same mistakes, even after we've told ourselves that we've learned our lesson.

We experience something, understand what went wrong, and promise ourselves that we won't do it again. But when a similar situation comes along, we sometimes find ourselves doing the same thing all over again.

And then we wonder, Didn't I learn anything the first time?

But I think there's a difference between knowing something and actually learning how to apply it in our lives.

It's like studying. We might understand a concept the first time we read it, but that doesn't mean we've mastered it. We need to practise, make mistakes, revise, and repeat until it becomes natural.

Maybe life works the same way.

We can understand something logically, but when emotions, old habits, and real-life situations get involved, applying what we know becomes much harder.

Perhaps that's why we sometimes need to experience similar situations more than once before we truly understand them.

I've started thinking that repeating a mistake doesn't necessarily mean we've made no progress. Sometimes, growth means recognising the pattern sooner, understanding why we fell into it, and trying to respond differently the next time.

Of course, we shouldn't use this as an excuse to keep making the same mistakes without learning from them. But I also don't think we should be so hard on ourselves for not getting everything right the first time.

Knowing the lesson and living the lesson are two different things.

Maybe we're not here to understand everything immediately. Maybe we're here to learn, unlearn, try again, and gradually become more aware of ourselves.

I'm curious: have you ever understood something in theory but needed to experience it yourself before it truly made sense?

To be honest, I often get overwhelmed thinking about how little time I have. I'm in the 10th grade, so I have to apply to university in two years, and I feel like I'm constantly running behind—so in the end, I accomplish nothing and end up feeling disappointed in myself. It reassures me a bit that practically no one in high school has truly figured out what they want to be yet, but lately I’ve still been feeling really anxious about my own inaction, even though I do have goals.

Can you have a goal without making it your entire life just to reach it? And what happens after you achieve it? Life doesn't stop there... there's still so much ahead. It makes me question whether I even need this goal in the first place. If I'm not doing anything to work toward it, why do I have it... maybe I don't actually want it after all?

Title… I’m an upperclassman in high school. My grades are amazing, but it feels like everyone else is better. I’m fine at my extracurricular, but I don’t feel good enough. I don’t feel good at anything. I’m pretty, but I don’t put effort in my appearance anymore and no one’s had a crush on me in a while. Stupid, I know, but still. I’m late and absent from school a lot and I’m unmotivated.

I know a lot of my feelings are because I’m a teen and going through hormonal changes… but it’s really hard to stop thinking like this. I know I have a lot of years ahead of me, etc.

But what can I do to stop feeling so hopeless and sad right now? It’s causing me to miss out on a lot of things.

Today, I was speaking to a friend, and we talked about our courses. When I mentioned I was basically taking only what I needed to graduate, he said “Why don’t you challenge yourself?”

To tell you the truth, I love doing nothing. I get lots of free time to focus on myself and my life. Consequently, I have reached a point where I’ve made too much time for myself. It leaves me thinking all the time, and I hate how right my friend is.

Another friend said I’d do amazing at these writing competitions, and yet, I never signed up. He also keeps trying to influence me (at least, I feel its influencing) to join this debate club with him. I just don’t do anything and I act like I love it, yet I don’t know what’s setting me off about my actions.

Hey everyone,

I'm 21, and lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life, my career, and what I actually want to do with my future. I think I need some outside perspectives from people who've been through similar situations.

I've wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember. When I was around 7 or 8, I'd sing random melodies to myself in the shower. By 12, I was writing songs almost every day, recording them in my bedroom with YouTube beats, and dreaming about performing on stage someday.

I recorded my first song around 13 or 14 and put it on SoundCloud. Unfortunately, some of my peers bullied me pretty badly for pursuing music. That followed me through multiple schools, but I kept writing and learning. Eventually, I taught myself to record in Adobe Audition, released an EP at 16, and got some experience with Logic Pro through an internship during my senior year of high school.

I never really got anywhere with my music, but back then, that wasn't the point. I loved creating things, and I could spend hours doing it.

After high school, life got complicated. Between work, relationships, financial struggles, personal experiences, and trying to figure out adulthood, I gradually drifted away from music. I went nearly two and a half years without seriously writing or finishing anything.

I never went to college, partly because of financial circumstances and the fear of taking on a huge amount of debt. I tried pursuing other things, including a professional certificate, but struggled to stay engaged and ultimately only finished it because I regurgitated every buzzword and got lucky. For a long time, I felt like I was just working to get by without really moving toward anything I cared about.

Now I'm working around 40 hours a week, trying to support myself and build a future with my girlfriend and stepson. Money is still tight, and balancing responsibilities with figuring out what I want from life has been difficult.

Recently, though, I've started trying to reconnect with music.

I've been learning Ableton, experimenting with Serum and Vital, and trying to understand music theory. I'm starting from the basics again, and I haven't finished a full song yet, but things are beginning to click. I'm also looking into studying music more formally and have applied to college.

I know I'm only 21, and I know I have time. Still, it's hard not to feel like I've fallen behind or wasted years that I could have spent improving my craft. I've also had enough people doubt me over the years that sometimes I struggle to believe in myself, too.

Thankfully, my girlfriend supports me and believes in me, which means more than I can explain. I want to give this dream a genuine chance, even if it takes years of work and looks nothing like I imagined when I was a kid.

I'm not expecting to become famous overnight. I'd honestly be happy to make a living from music someday and create things that resonate with even a small number of people. I'm especially interested in experimental music and want to explore my own sound rather than simply follow trends.

So, I'd really appreciate advice on a few things:

• Learning music: What online resources, courses, YouTube channels, or musicians should I study? I'm especially interested in production, sound design, songwriting, and music theory.
• Getting back into the habit of creating: For anyone who's taken a long break from music or another creative pursuit, how did you get back into it? How do you stop feeling like you've lost the skills you once had?
• Balancing music and adulthood: How do you make meaningful progress while working full-time, paying bills, and maintaining relationships? How do you keep from burning out?
• Making music a career: What practical steps would you recommend to someone who wants to work in music? I'm interested in production, recording, songwriting, sound design, internships, and other opportunities that could help me gain experience.
• General life advice: If you've ever felt lost in your early twenties, what helped you figure out your direction? I'd genuinely appreciate hearing what worked for you, what didn't, and what you wish you'd known at my age.

I'm still figuring things out, so I'm happy to clarify anything I've left out. I'm not looking for anyone to tell me that success is guaranteed. I just want to learn from people who know more than I do and figure out how to take practical steps forward.

Thanks for reading all of this. Any advice, resources, or personal experiences would mean a lot.