Aid required in unfucking myself.

[Cont] I'm twenty six. Now, that isn't so bad by itself, nor even when considering my rather antisocial track record so far - I'm not overly bothered. What I am bothered by isn't the past, but the future. As I've said, I have selected the major based purely on the certainty of my application being accepted. I have no passion for the subject, and the careers available for those who graduate in it hold little appeal and even less profit - teaching earns about as much money in my country as it does respect from students. Which is to say, disgustingly little. To complicate matters, changing my major has two major obstacles - the first and direct being the necessity of passing an exam likely involving knowledge I've long since forgotten; the second being the fact that even now, I have little passion for any career I can think of. The latter is the lesser of the issues, despite what it may seem. I've managed to force myself to do things before, I could do it again... and statistically speaking, most people perform jobs they don't particularly enjoy.

Another problem, of course, is age. Not current age - but how old I would be by the time I'm done studying. Even should I continue with my current major, the sufficient education to land a 'proper' position would leave me at thirty - and if I change it, that'd bring that number up to thirty-three. Now, I don't know about other countries, but here, few if any employers would hire someone over thirty and with no experience in the given field for an entry-level position. Not without contacts I do not possess being called for, anyway.

To be quite honest, I find myself increasingly hopeless as time goes by. I feel like mistakes I've made as a dumb teenager have led to a situation where my future will involve a dead-end job that not only crushes my will to live (obligatory exaggeration), but also pays peanuts. And if I'm going to be a cog, I'd at least be well-paid, is all I'm saying.

In conclusion. I'm not even entirely certain what advice I'm looking for - I just felt the need to try, at least. Anything is welcome, in the end... well, perhaps anything but feel-good messages with no substance, as there's plenty of those to be found.

You'll be okay, despite what the internet makes it look like, most people actually struggle in life.

Hey OP, I'm on a similar boat, dropped out at 19, just went back at 23, didn't do much but learning music during the time, which is good, but I still feel like I ruined my chances at a 'good life', keep feeling that I'm fuck up, will graduate too old in a field that's not very economically prosper, and just noticed my hair is thinning, while I'm surrounded by cute 18 year olds, and just got out of a long relationship. Also have sleep problems, pretty tired all the time and it's hard to keep myself motivated to foucus. I don't even have advice or an answer, just wanted to make it clear that you're not alone in feeling that way.

>>17994207
I realize. It's less about the struggle and more where said struggle ends up. Before I decided to post my pseudo-rant here, I've searched for other people in similar situations - and what I found was far from inspiring. The two most common scenarios were ending up in the exact dead-end position I wish to avoid, or a stroke of fortune leading to finding a position close to what they wanted by accident - and the latter is, comparatively, very rare.

Now, to explain why I find the idea of a bad-paying job as abhorrent - I come from a poor family. We're talking 'better spend that money carefully if you want to eat' levels of poor. The only reason I could afford to study is government programs and the fact higher education in my country is cheap in the first place, mercifully far from the 'debt for life' system some others have. The last thing I want is to deal with money shortage for the rest of my life as well, is all.

>>17994215
Well, I hope things work out for you. Funnily enough (for a certain definition of 'funny'), I find myself slowly balding as well. Stress, I suppose, given no one in my extended family, even going three generations back, ever had early hair loss issues.

But at least that doesn't bother me too much. Never was one for relationships. Still, I feel you.

I really wish I had advice to give. I'm in a slightly similar situation myself - 24, fucked myself out of job prospects. My country doesn't really do cheap higher education, though, nor does it have any real ways for adults to get it - so I'm basically shit out of luck.

To be honest, though, I'd deal with it better if my every attempt to solve it wasn't met with variations on "should have known better". Should I really? Should I really have known what I want to do with my whole life at fucking 18?

Sorry, salt spillage. But the point is, I get it, man. And I don't see a way out either.