What makes you sad?

[lph]

And we shouldn't forget that only those people who have very happy relationships will answer that question that way. There are plenty of people who aren't lucky enough to be in quite that place, or who even have SOs that contribute to their sadness. I would say that as long as you have someone in you life to love, whether it's friends or family or a SO, you have something important.

[thekarens]

And we shouldn't forget that only those people who have very happy relationships will answer that question that way. There are plenty of people who aren't lucky enough to be in quite that place, or who even have SOs that contribute to their sadness. I would say that as long as you have someone in you life to love, whether it's friends or family or a SO, you have something important.

This! I've been on both sides of the fence and that's probably one of the main reasons my SO does make me so happy.

Things that make me sad.... My short comings and failings.

[shootingstar]

Sad because of loved ones who have died and plus others who are about die.

Another reason why I have no interest living in a retirement community....better to be in a multi-generation neighbourhood with services and shops close by.

[smilingcat]

Lot of things makes me sad. political/financial inequality, unnecessary hadrship I see all the time.

Money worry makes me sad. Bigger you are harder you fall seems appropriate.

Getting my monthly alumni magazine and seeing many of my classmates and researchers I worked with, have made names for themselves. Me? Got very little to show. Just a membership to local Grange (dying organization with silly secret handshake...) and a farm. Did I deserve an Ivy league education?? Probably not. The magazine makes me feel like a total failure. So these days, the rag goes straight into the recycling bin. DON'T REMIND ME!!!

Somedays I just feel like I need to be pushing daisies and stare at the sky blankly.

Or when I have a project/problem with no elegant or simple solution. I feel like the problem is mocking at my shortcoming.

Or results not meeting my exurberant expectation.

[Helene2013]

Smilingcat

Don't beat yourself up.

Success is not all about work, about having your name plastered all over internet or in magazine or the best education. Maybe for some, but not all of us.

I don't care if some of my peers made it to the top, are making more money, are traveling all over for work. My ex-boss used to be in the $600,000s Was he happy with his COO job? Probably. But he had the stress that came with it, no real life and making sure he stayed connected with the planet's contacts! He was on "duty" 24/7, working crazy hours. He was let go just over a year ago and I saw him for lunch one day recently. He is so much more relaxed, only taking small (although they are still busy) contracts. He's not making a lot of money (at least compared to before). But he says he could no longer work the way he was for the past years. Traveling world-wide really is hard on you when one day you're in London, the next in Calgary! He looked so much better.

If you'd dig my name up on the WWW you will NOT see it. I try to protect it as much as I can, no pics either in the google image search. haha I don't need this to feel accomplished.

What matters is how YOU see yourself, without comparing you to your classmates. We all take different roads at some point in our life. You have something, they have something else that I'm sure they may love to trade in some times.

But if that mag really gets to you, have your name removed from mailing list for a while. You can always have them put it back when you feel like it.

A quote I like:

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill

So no matter how I continue my road on this earth, I want to drive it my way. Which may mean fall, get up and keep going. Even if it is in another direction I never thought of.

[Pax]

I have always lacked ambition, much to the chagrin of my parents and teachers. Since I test really high on things like IQ tests there were all these expectations that I would "be somebody" and amount to something. It never bothered me that those things never came to fruition, but it made me sad that it seemed to disappoint people who mattered to me.

Now all of those people are gone and I'm happy as a clam with my life, doubly so that I didn't cave to meeting their expectations. It would have been different though if I'd set those standards for myself. Hope you find some peace with this Cat.

[ny biker]

Getting my monthly alumni magazine and seeing many of my classmates and researchers I worked with, have made names for themselves. Me? Got very little to show. Just a membership to local Grange (dying organization with silly secret handshake...) and a farm. Did I deserve an Ivy league education?? Probably not. The magazine makes me feel like a total failure. So these days, the rag goes straight into the recycling bin. DON'T REMIND ME!!!

When they accept you, they don't make you sign a contract to commit to doing anything special after you graduate. If you did the work and earned the credits to graduate, you deserved the education.

I am downwardly mobile, have taken pay cuts and changed careers in order to have a job that makes me happy and get away from the jobs that made me miserable. I'm currently not doing anything related to my major. But I worked hard for my Ivy League degree (and my MS from Northwestern) and I deserved them. What happens to other alumni has nothing to do with me -- whether they're successful or they're in jail (and yes some of the famous ones have gone to jail).

We each have our own version of success, and if it doesn't match up with other's versions or strays from the path we started on when we were young, that's okay.

[lauraelmore1033]

I've been in a pretty happy place lately, in spite of being a huge underachiever, and pretty much all the negatives others have touched on. That said, the recent death of my Step Father has me feeling sad because I regret not spending more time with him (and my family of origin). The horrific circumstances under which he was found have rocked me to my core, and I feel deep sorrow for the soul wrenching trauma my Sister in Law suffered from finding him that way.

[AppleTree]

I've been in a pretty happy place lately, in spite of being a huge underachiever, and pretty much all the negatives others have touched on. That said, the recent death of my Step Father has me feeling sad because I regret not spending more time with him (and my family of origin). The horrific circumstances under which he was found have rocked me to my core, and I feel deep sorrow for the soul wrenching trauma my Sister in Law suffered from finding him that way.

Heavens, Laura, sounds very traumatic for you and your family, oh my gosh... Healing thoughts your way, so sorry for your loss. Keep moving forward, that is all we can do.