I used to have that schedule as well - electrician so at work by 5am, leave work at 5-6pm. When i was doing that i would take lunch outside or in my van if weather was bad. It's not much but helps a little, but look into adjusting your schedule if possible. It's not great living like that for long.
I’m also an electrician and I joined the IBEW a few years ago. It changed my life. We work from 7 to 3:30. I get paid double what I used to make and I’m not even done with my apprenticeship.
If your local union is a strong one, I would recommend any electrician experiencing a work-life imbalance joining up. Watch out for pitfalls if you’re in a Right to Work (for less) state.
Yeah, I've never been union but have been lucky to work for a good boss for 26 years now. Eventually just told them I wasn't doing it anymore and it was fine - now I'm a PM and working too much again lol. My own choice at least
I agree though - even I would say if possible going union would always be better for people for many reasons.
My best friend is an electrician. It's hot, sweaty work but if that doesn't bother you, it's good money once you put a few years in and make it to journeyman.
I used to work 12 hr nights and in the winter. I wouldn’t see the sun at all until I was trying to shut it out so I could sleep in the morning. Truly the most depressing phase of my life, I didn’t realize just how much a little sun can positively affect your mood until I left that place. Take care of yourself, I know leaving isn’t always an easy option.
To be more depressing there also are way fewer birds than there used to be. Bird populations are down 30% since the 1970 (and in the 70s they were already way down from pre-industrial levels, we just don't know by how much).
I don’t see the stars anymore, I don’t hear birds anymore, and many places where trees once stood are being replaced with parking lots for another car dealership (it’s happened thrice now)
I realize this might be unwelcome and I realize you are genuinely having a bad time, which is completely fucked and I’m really sorry about that.
However: You may not hear the birds, but I don’t think it’s so literal, maybe consider what you do hear or see? Are there any insects that buzz at night where you are? Are there bats? Have you seen a cat prowling at night? Maybe a fox or a coyote? Maybe there are frogs or toads, or hedgehogs or racoons. Somewhere around you is life, hustling and bustling, maybe not dissimilar to yourself.
My years on night shift I would look for the moon every day to see if it was watching me that night. It really helps bring something to your day when you create a routine like that.
Genuine question, so would this result in not having goals? Only occupying yourself with the present means not occupying yourself with your hopes, dreams, and aims in life?
I'm sure there's something I'm not getting here, but I don't get how I could only live in the present without just letting go of everything I want to do in the future. And if I do that why would I do anything to improve myself or anything with long-term benefits?
Thanks for replying; I'm really glad you took the time to.
So it sounds like while you've become more present, you've still remained aware & continued to care about your hopes dreams and goals? Like you've spent less time dwelling and ruminating on them, but they've still been very real to you and fulfilling to strive toward. I wanted to check if I'm understanding.
Have they changed because you've let go of certain things you realized weren't worth it, like striving for material goods or shallow goals? That sounds painful...
So in your last paragraph, were you saying that it is better to approach any given situation with the mind of a beginner because opening up a moment to the mystery of many possibilities is better? Would the mind of the expert not be better, as there are fewer things one might spend time on worrying about?
It means you may not be where you thought you’d be in life, but you should still enjoy the little things and be grateful for where you are and appreciate the little things like good food, hearing birds small joys of life
I'll say it goes even further, since there is no time. There is no set of rules for your life, there is no goal or milestones. You just live. And that's when you stop and listen to the birds or smell the flowers.
I’ll say it goes even FURTHER. The present moment is all we have ever experienced, this is a fact. And we tell ourselves things like “I’m not where I want to be in life”. But in the same sense we tell ourselves this - we also LISTEN to ourselves tell ourselves this. Who listening inside us? It’s not the voice telling us we’re not enough and to worry about the past and the future. The voice that is so loud that we distract ourselves from hearing the birds. And in our society we tend to give it the steering wheel.
Learning to deepen my presence and shift my consciousness from my head into my heart has been the most rewarding investment I’ve ever made. And the depth of presence never ends, it just becomes more delicious to drink in as you deepen your ability. It feels like a secret that the world doesn’t want you to know it’s so simple
The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. Or replace "Tao" with "Living Force" if "Tao" sounds too religious and you're a Star Wars nerd like I am.
Because there is something here that resonates deep in you, a sort of truth that you can feel. I would encourage you to investigate it if something about what was written feels profound :)
Practice and awareness. It’s a different path for everyone, which is what makes it beautiful and rewarding. We are the only ones that can find our path and there’s nothing to “learn” so much as there is to “unlearn” - we have everything we need inside us.
If you can digest small books, A Lion Trackers Guide to life might be a good place to find some inspiration. And slightly longer and more famous The Alchemist. It feels silly to try to answer that when others have said so much better.
My favorite quote on the meaning of life is from a Terry Pratchett book, Sourcery. His character Death (basically the grim reaper with a dry sense of humor) is full of great quotes.
"“I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.”
And of course I don't think it's meant to be literal, that cats are so great (though I like them). It's about finding what in life gives you joy and pursuing that.
This is one of my life’s goals. I feel it. It can still be frustrating to not be anywhere near where you’d hope, specially when that hope is to be in a position where you can do more for others.
A certain financial independence is required for that outlook. I genuinely want this privilege for everyone but that's not the truth for majority of people.
But isn’t that just a small consolation, when you realize that the world, and maybe you as well not like how you imagined? It sounds like, since you can’t have nothing you really want, you need to look at the things that everyone can experience. Just by enjoying the bird singing the world won’t be a better place, nor for you, nor anyone else, or even for the bird.
“Sublime beauty”Please, save it. I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask for addict parents and a mentally ill sibling who terrorized the house. I didn’t ask to be an orphan at a young age. I didn’t ask for nor deserve all the suffering I have endured in life. Life is suffering.
Life doesn’t “get better,” it just looks for new ways to knock you down. Yes, I am bitter and jaded. That’s life. There’s no point to it, no reason for anything. We are not that important as individuals, no one is.
I’ve worked my butt off these last two years and have less to show for it than two years ago. Life isn’t fair and I refuse to believe it’s inherently beautiful.
I’ve heard, “God is still writing your story. Stop trying to steal the pen.” Fuck that. God is a cruel mistress who either loves black comedy or tragedies. Why am I trusting such a nasty entity to write my story, seeing what he’s written so far?
You are right. You did not ask for these things. Yet they are here. There is pain in life, yes. It is not fair. And here you are. And here I am. I see your suffering. I too have suffered. When I listen to the birds or drink my first sip of coffee, I remember there are also quiet nights, sunny days and that things change. May you also find moments of peace in your days, fellow human.
I mean... The moment I went past the "I wanna be an astronaut!" phase and started thinking somewhat rationally, I began realizing that, the way things were going for me, I wouldn't make it longer than two months living independently.
I might have arrived late to many things, but my whole life has changed in the past two years, and last week I moved into my first apartment. It's only been one week, yeah - but I've been happier and more functional than ever, and when I look towards the future, it no longer goes black within two months. Now there are actually meaningful goals I want to achieve, and there is a lighthouse that guides me.
So yeah, I'm nowhere close to where I thought I would be by now - and I thank the heavens every single day for it.
I would have never predicted where I am today and the birds are cleaning up the blueberry farm. Generally, I can't hear them, but I watch them every day. There were almost no birds around the property two years ago, but we put out water for them in the summer, don't spray anything on the bushes and it has made a huge difference.
Lately I've grown fondly of birds, I always liked them but never payed too much attention, I've downloaded the app Merlin to identify calls and such and it's really interesting.
Now I'm only sad because there are only like 6 different birds in my area, I wish my place had more variety
At my work office I saw a cardinal for the first time in my life. It comes around every so often, but a lot of birds seem to really like our trees here. Seen many different birds around this area, while the small city I live in just has grackles and pidgeons mostly.
I did see a great blue heron for the first time as well last year after we got a ton of rain that filled up a lot of the dried up lakes and rivers around here.
So tired of the constant misery in here! Even in r/wholesomememes you got people being negative in the comment! Life suck, yeah we know, so at least enjoy it a little godddamn
But if we acknowledge that there is still positivity in the world, we'll need to confront the fact that we need to put effort into looking for it. And a lot of people(including myself at times), would rather wallow in our misery than even think about putting in any amount of effort on anything.
If people want to stay in their misery, it's a shame for them.
But when they wanna share it with the world, you end up with those crab bucket mentality sub where everyone is miserable and no one can leave. It feel worse recently, the only upvotes on comment are sarcastic, nihilist, or just snark.
Sometimes the way out of misery is through it, not tossing it aside, or pretending you're not miserable. It's not fair to shit on people taking their own path towards happiness.
I'm not? This is toward people who do not try to get out of it, but would rather other people feel the same as them. There is a difference between undergoing life hardship and wallowing in them
The birds wake me up at 5. I wish they'd be more considerate. They also steal the food I put out for the stray cats that visit. I wish they'd learn to share.
I saw this meme, walked outside to enjoy the birds, and saw one drowning in my pool. After getting the little guy out, he dried himself off, then fell over and died.
It was not what I needed today, but I’m thankful I got to see that gorgeous bird up close and be with him during his last minutes.
Never take birds lives and all of nature for granted!
I love nature. I love hearing birds sing. But honestly, it just doesn't make it all worthwhile to me. My life hasn't been horrible in a lived through a warzone kind of awful, but it's had its moments. I simply wouldn't do it again if I were asked. I'd say no thank you. I'm very concerned about the possibility of reincarnation because I don't want that. I hope for a nice decomposition into nutrients and to never be seen or heard from again.
Sweet jesus god these comments read like Frodo's inner monologue halfway up Mt. Doom. Too many people are down! hope things change for the better soon.
I feel that, the economic situation in Finland is down the shitter and I am not doing as well as I wished I was atm.
Unemployed atm (as a truck driver which is kinda insane) even when trying to get a job for 6 months now...but nobody wants to hire atm cause the future seems so unstable and uncertain. and those who are hiring, well they get so many applications that prosentual odds of landing the job are less than 1%. But I try to focus on on the good things and keep hoping that I won't end up as a failure against all my efforts and struggles.
I fully understand the sentiment of this meme, however it made me realize i actually dont hear the birds anymore. This is because the local hooligan culture in my city of driving around without mufflers on their cars is scaring the birds away, plus a general decline in bug populations to feed said birds due to mosquito pest control affecting other arthropods. I should probably move tbh.
As someone with multiple MH diagnoses, to me this hit very different. I get thoughts like this many times, most often in bed when trying to sleep, like in the meme. To me a good night is when I get over it quickly and fall asleep. The bad nights are when I ruminate for hours awake until the birds start chirping away at 4/5 am. So it’s more like did you hear the birds? No, ok good then it was a good night, move forward.
It’s a testament to how MH warps perception since this is way off from everyone else’s perspective ITT.
No, not really. I’ve wasted time. I was sick, unable to do what I had to. My whole projected timeline was derailed. So instead of building the foundations of my life, I have to finish the previous step.
I hear birds everyday and it makes me envy their freedom and simplicity of life, no one expects them to reach a high standard just fly around and live in trees
I reside in oregon and Washington, just depends on my situation, Vancouver and Portland area. Birds up here be squeaking at like 4am sometimes lol. There's always birds.
You have to stay positive because positivity and optimism is the only thing that gives you the motivation and drive to meaningfully chase your dreams. The moment you tell yourself you can’t, you’ll start to believe it. And if you don’t believe you can, there is no reason to try. The advice to believe in yourself sounds corny, but it’s really true. You have to believe you can do it. That doesn’t mean you always will, but it at least means you have a reason to try.
No. No I can't. My son has left, my house I bought was built wrong, I'm in thousands of dollars of debt. I'm 50. I've taught for 26 years and hate every day I go to work. I have no friends near me. Because I make a little more money today than 4 years ago, my other son can't get financial aid for college. I got acute pancreatitis from mounjaro, and now I'm on insulin. My insurance went up and I'm pretty sure I have cancer, but am too chicken to get it checked out. There are no birds. There is nothing.
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u/qualityvote2 Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
The community has spoken! u/somebodyinsane69, your post is a Wholesome Meme.