How easy/hard has your life been until now?

Hollister11

Has your life been a slog. Do you dread getting up in the morning, every single day? Or is has your life been easy.

I'm 21 and my life has been thanks to my parents hard work. Since i left school life has been great and i rarely dread getting up. No stress, no worries, Life is just easy at the moment. I'm in college and have loved every day for the last 3 years.

When I was in school I hated life. I never really socialised, so I had nothing to look forward to, I always got bad grades so i use to fear the report card every 3 months or so.

My parents have always provided me with everything, so I can't complain about not having food or entertainment.

How about use? Hows your life been.

HalloweenJack

Economically, stable thanks to my mother's hard work. Never wanted for anything, always had help at hand when I needed.

Emotionally, a rollercoaster. I'm very up and down, though more stable in recent years. It hasn't been easy at all, thankfully I've had the support to get me through it.

One thing that I dislike about the world is the people who put so much importance on financial success. It's dangerous because you can't put a price on your emotional well-being. I don't see that mentioned enough, though. A lot of media seems to stress the importance of economic success and subsequently using that as a marker of how successful your life is.

buried

I'm 38 and it's been difficult at times. Very difficult at times. But it could have been worse. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. It could get a lot worse yet!! Life isn't no picnic for anyone, chaos waits around the corner for everything and pays no heed to rank or status. I just try my best to get through the difficult times when they rear up and make lots of time for what I enjoy when I can enjoy it.

bodice ripper

Life is a series of running kicks to the gash. Any pause between kicks is only because life is winding back for a particularly spectacular kick.

Lady is a tramp

I dunno, I b*tch and moan a lot on here but really things in my life have been relatively okay.

I'm 31 and am getting my shlt together, I'm very lucky to be doing so early on in my life.

I have my issues with mental health and alcoholism, but at least I'm getting through them now ... I've actually often been the youngest female resident/patient in most of the places I've been in the past few years, and I've often looked at women in their 60s/70s/80s and considered myself so lucky compared to them. It's a lot harder to start over when you're at that age.

Like I've been lucky in terms of intelligence and career opportunities, and that counts for a lot. I've an impressive enough CV for my age and shouldn't ever have a problem getting a decent job.

I've been lucky in terms of supportive friends and people in my life.

I'm lucky to have a fantastic little boy who thinks the world of his mammy and won't grow up knowing his mum to be in addiction, he'll have no memory of it.

I've every opportunity really, I've never had things handed to me on a plate. I've been through lots of trauma in life and it'll all stick with me always. But I'm definitely through the worst of it, I hope so anyways.

I'm always very mindful to be aware of what I've lost ... but also to be very very grateful for what I have.

megaten

Pretty easy with the exception of college which I wasn't really suited for.

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py2006

If you can walk, talk, see, hear and have a roof over your head, bed to lay yourself down in and food in your belly YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

chrissb8

Ah this is a nice refreshing thread. Suppose I'll start off with the last year.

Yeah life has been very good recently. Had a fair bit of turmoil of the existential kind about a year ago. Finished college took the relative mick out of my last year and hit far low below what I could have achieved. Got in a bad rut about that and I simply smoked far too much weed that year and really got in my own head about where my life was going. Just turned 26 at the time lying in my bed feeling stuck because it's the same place I've been since forever. No forward momentum, laying about doing nothing, half ass applying for jobs because I didn't feel I was worth salt to anyone in employment.

Knew I had a couple of brutal months to get to a place where I needed to be. So shaped up anyway and got a break in the form of a friend getting an internship for me that didn't pay much. Such is the nature of these things and the experience has led on to a fulltime job elsewhere in a role I didn't think I would ever get. Got my first pay check today and it felt so good. Money isn't everything but not having it makes life a lot tougher. Couldn't go travelling, couldn't learn to drive, couldn't even just do simple things like just go out for a meal without worrying about the dent in my pocket. Now I can contemplate all these things.

Life in general has been pretty good to me. I have awesome parents who showered me (and continue to) with love. A cracking support network of close friends. The one thing I have taken from all the years is the self confidence you build. It's hard to build yourself to a point where you can say "alright, yeah I'm ok I can do this" to a lot of things in life. Whether that'd be going into your first fulltime job, going after that person you want or even just socialising with new people. I feel now I have that bedrock of confidence to know what I'm about and what I want. I'm happy truth be told. Took a long time and I didn't give up but I got there and that's all that matters.

Probably long and completely off tangent but was great to write this. Thanks!

BetsyEllen

Life has been good enough I suppose.
Had a few tough times but I got through them and came out smiling.

I'm 30 - I left school at 16 with no qualifications. Which was a shame as I was very clever, just lost focus and started hanging around with the wrong people.
Copped on a year later though and got a semi decent job.

Worked my way up with different companies, gained good experience.

Met a guy when I was 20, ended up moving to Ireland for him.
Married very young, separated 2 years later. Quite a tough experience when you don't have your family around and very few friends.

Stayed in Ireland, got through it, made great friends.

Met someone, fell madly in love and ended up with a broken heart and a prescription for anti-depressants and also lost a very special family member around the same time.
That was the toughest time of my life but I'm glad for it now as it changed me a lot and I think I'm a better person for it.

I have a good job which pays me enough to live a comfortable life and I enjoy it a lot.

I don't want children so I'm not fussed about finding a partner therefore being single is no issue for me.

My only regrets are not staying in school and going into college and also not starting to save money earlier.
Also leaving England and not getting to spend precious time with my grandparents.

All in all I've struggled at times but right now, life is good and I'm happy.
I've been through a lot but many others have been through much, much worse so I am grateful for what I have in my life.

Knex*

Its all about your reference point, I suppose.

Everyone has their struggles, I know, but If compared globally, most people on this island have it pretty easy.

Lady is a tramp

py2006 wrote: »

If you can walk, talk, see, hear and have a roof over your head, bed to lay yourself down in and food in your belly YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

I'd disagree with you there. To me, some of those are actually the easy things of life.

I'm from a very dysfunctional background, but from a very "successful" "respectable" family. They didn't know how to love us, but they definitely knew how to educate us. I'm healthy and always had financial support when I needed it, especially when it came to my education. I did several different college courses. I never went hungry.

But at the same time, I was repeatedly sexually abused between 3 and 12. My parents saw me losing the use of a leg at 3/4, were told it was psychosomatic due to trauma, and told the doctors and physiotherapists it was as a result of missing my mum when my brother was born. (I did regain use of it, but it had wasted away to half the size of the other leg.) None of that was normal or okay.

It doesn't mean I can't find a way to move on from it and live a normal life, but it's taken me so so very long to even accept that it affects my ability to do so. That he still has that power over me. Accepting that much is the first step in moving on past it.

MRnotlob606

A couple of months ago I walked in on a family member trying to end their lives. I have changed a lot since that moment.

LadyMacBeth_

I have a loving family that have always been there to support me, they aren't perfect but who is and I have always been provided for financially. I've had a few kicks in the crotch in my time, and things were especially difficult in my teens. I am in a much better place now, though there are still days that I struggle to get out of bed. I have Cystic Fibrosis and that is a bit of a pain in the arse of course but I've always thought that dealing with my mental health issues has been far more difficult. Overall, aside from CF, I think that life has been kind to me.

py2006

Lady is a tramp wrote: »

I'd disagree with you there. To me, some of those are actually the easy things of life.

I'm from a very dysfunctional background, but from a very "successful" "respectable" family. They didn't know how to love us, but they definitely knew how to educate us. I'm healthy and always had financial support when I needed it, especially when it came to my education. I did several different college courses. I never went hungry.

But at the same time, I was repeatedly sexually abused between 3 and 12. My parents saw me losing the use of a leg at 3/4, were told it was psychosomatic due to trauma, and told the doctors and physiotherapists it was as a result of missing my mum when my brother was born. (I did regain use of it, but it had wasted away to half the size of the other leg.) None of that was normal or okay.

It doesn't mean I can't find a way to move on from it and live a normal life, but it's taken me so so very long to even accept that it affects my ability to do so. That he still has that power over me. Accepting that much is the first step in moving on past it.

I kinda don't agree with my own post.

We as humans are never happy with what we got and we always focus on what we don't have. Sorry to hear what you went through and I hope things are more positive for you now and in the future.

pumpkin4life

I grew up in one of the poorest very working class areas in the country and am now working in but not quite fit in say, part of one of the richest areas in the country. I am the person that left wing well off Guardian lads like to pretend that they're helping or like, though in an abstract way. As a result I have this weird outside looking in fit and perspective to both these groups.

And this is Ireland, home of the risk averse "we don't like people bettering themselves" kind of lads. You see this from both perspectives. Even though I like Irish people, its a big character flaw.

I'm far better off than I should be, but its hard not to be a bit lonely at times. I'm half playing around with the idea of leaving, but that's just an idea like.

All of the above bring challenges. Don't think that just because you've more money or there's this crowd of people everything will be better.

It's all nonsense.

anto9

Now 64 and life has been hard at times but bearable.Have been blessed with good health so far touch wood .My main concerns now are financial .Living in a Country with no safety net .Its warm though all year and the people are nice.Have a good wife .Starting to think about death which seems more of a reality at my age .Do not fear it but just don't want to be there when it happens .

Cee-Jay-Cee

I am lucky to come from a very loving and caring family. I wasn't spoiled when growing up but was never without and didn't need for anything. I was a messer at school and got far from what I could have achieved. I farted about with different jobs through my 20's, with no college education they were all relatively unskilled type jobs. I was lucky and got a very good job which I've been in for 19 years, I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters. I have a lovely home and while we're far from being well off, we have enough to keep us in a comfortable lifestyle without being extravagant.

I've good health and keep myself fit and eat well/properly. I know I'm lucky and I'm very thankful for my lot.

jamesbere

I'd rate it as meh

Village Crazy Lady

Im 45 now, and i have had my fair share of ups and downs.
My father walked out when i was young, had no confidence and hadnt any real friends, sexually abused when 11, raped when 21, Neither of these events had any impact on me, i just picked myself up and got on with it. I left Ireland when i was 22.
Life seriously improved for me then. Went back to college, got a degree, got a fantastic job, bought a house, got married, made some very good friends. Came back to Ireland 10 years ago with husband and child. Fast forward to today, divorced 4 kids and an aunt who has Alzheimer's, and a partner who wants nothing from me but my time, he treats me with respect and love.
I suppose when i think back, yes times have been tough but life is what it is. My mum always said life was neither fair or easy, but make the best of it, cause you only have one go at it, so do whatever makes you happy. I have had to make some very hard decisions over the years but i wouldn't change any of it, all my experiences have made me the person i am today. And yes there are still going to be tough times but i will deal with them as they come.

And i can honestly say i am truly happy, i don't have all the thing's i want but I have what i need for me and my kids and that's enough.😀

Permabear

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harry Bailey esq

Lots of highs and lots of lows. About 50/50 I'd reckon.

BrokenArrows

I've had a fairly easy life to be honest.
Nothings been handed to me but things just seem to workout.

Never really studied hard and got very average results in the leaving cert but it was enough points to get my first choice to college.

Graduated college with average results.

Went traveling on a 5k loan from bank of ireland. (Good old celtic tiger banks. You want 5k from a bank as a newly graduated student without a job, sure here you go. )

Arrived back a year later and landed a well paying contract job in a bank for 6 months almost immediately. Paid off the loan asap.

Landed a permanent job and was good at it. The economy tanked and things got cheaper. I kept my job so in my eyes everything was going great.

Still working for that company 10 years on (kinda, they got bought out by a well known multinational, so i now work for a company with a big brand name which gets recognition and looks great on the CV). Got plenty of promotions along the way and changed jobs internally a few times.

Met an amazing woman and got married. Purchased a house, earning good money.

Renovating the house so this is the time that things might go wrong as im doing alot of the work myself.

noaddedsugar

I had an abusive childhood, left home at 17 with no family support and no one to fall back on should everything go wrong. Looking back I was a messed up kid and I am amazed at how I managed to get by, although it was a bit hairy at times to say the least and the abuse has left a lasting legacy on me no matter how much I like to pretend I've moved on. Got married, had a couple of kids, husband got very ill leaving me to look after him and the kids by myself, it was horrible, I had no one to turn to for support. I used to fantasise about either walking away or stepping in front of a car. I got through it though, although I did have a bit of melt down once things got better with my husband, just the release of stress or something.

Since then things have been up and down, normalish life stuff. I don't dread getting out of bed every morning, everything I have been through has made me strong and empathetic and grateful. I'm a simple being, once I have my family healthy, my plants to tend to and my bike to cycle my stress away I'm good.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Now 73 and, like many in Ireland during my youth, life was tough and money was scarce. We had very little and had knockbacks regularly. My father died young, so there was added pressure. Lost a brother in his 40s. Raising our family was hard but things worked out. We had a habit of just picking ourselves up, don't complain about it, and aim for the next opening door. I ended up in a great career, saw the world, have a loving family who all went on to do good things. Money is no longer an issue and life is very good. Health has, so far, been exceptionally good and 19 years in to retirement I'm having a ball.

MilesMorales1

Abusive childhood, and it was hard physically and emotionally. Since I became an adult (say I became 21 odd) its become a lot better, easier, whatever.

Ave Sodalis

Hard, but could have been worse. It always could have been worse.

OldMrBrennan83

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Beasty

First decade - OK - brought up in small tightknit communities and got a decent start to life

Second decade - quite miserable - very much a loner, feeling different but put my efforts into academic progression

Third decade - grafted to establish a career

Fourth decade - started harvesting all the fruits of that graft

Fifth decade - Felt comfortable in my life, family and job - not quite a breeze but the experience I had built up over those previous decades was paying off

This decade - many new challenges, some not particularly nice, but coming through that - guess it's downhill all the way from here.....

Overall - no complaints

ToddyDoody

buried wrote: »

It could have been worse. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. It could get a lot worse yet!!

Suggesed title for Sinead O'Connor's next album.

xzanti

py2006 wrote: »

If you can walk, talk, see, hear and have a roof over your head, bed to lay yourself down in and food in your belly YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

:rolleyes:

I had everything I needed (though not everything I wanted!) growing up, was well educated and dearly loved and given the skills to find my own way in life as an adult.

Our family life was hard in other ways though, pockmarked with loss, illness and tragedy. Also, the nature of my parents careers meant that I was moved around a lot and was separated from them occasionally for long periods as well, sometimes one of them, sometimes both. As a result I feel a bit unrooted at times, and while it's made me very independent it also means I'm a bit wary of relying on anyone too much and crave more stability. I'm happy to let anyone I love lean on me though.

In hospital a few years ago, I was minutes from death, and I think it made me more focused than I would be if it hadn't happened. All in all I'm lucky, bad things happen to lots of people but at least I've got the backup to deal with what life flung at me so far.

It is very subjective. Growing up I wanted for nothing. Love, food and warmth, time, an education. Today I feel so much love and appreciation for my parents. It wasn't always easy but they did everything they could for me. My teens were tough because of bullying and feeling different, set apart in some way from the others. Unfortunately that was a feeling which I carried in to my twenties. The best way I can describe it was a kind of outside looking in experience. I struggled a lot with depression during those years.


When I was 29 my wonderful mammy was diagnosed with vascular dementia. Other things happened in that year and I fell apart. When I think of my life I see it in terms of before all that crap and after it. I have little broken bits inside of me that are sometimes achey. I'm 35 now and am extremely proud of what I've overcome and where I am today. Life certainly did not turn out as I had hoped and now and then I feel a loneliness that no person can help but I make the best of my lot. The people in my life today are very wonderful and despite it all I am content and very lucky

Penny Tration

16-23 were the worst years of my life. I'm still kind of surprised I'm alive after it.

28 now and I love my life. Class family, relationship, friends, I love my job, I can't complain.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

RedTie

py2006 wrote: »

If you can walk, talk, see, hear and have a roof over your head, bed to lay yourself down in and food in your belly YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

That's nice in fairytales.

But complete nonsense in reality.

missyb01

My life up to now has been a mix of hard and easy and I expect that there will always be a mix.

Childhood was good. We had what we needed, the basics - clothes, food and a bed. We never had anything fancy, no holidays and birthdays and Christmas were never over done.

i have worked constantly since I was 17 because if I wanted anything no matter how small, I had to work to buy it. My brother became a heroin addict when I was a teenager and he was a few years older than me. Heroin absolutely destroyed him and he became homeless and I didn't see him for years. When he returned home after a few years I just hugged him . We built up a fantastic relationship again. Unfortunately not long after he was clean, he was diagnosed with cancer and died.

I'm in my thirties now with a wonderful partner, my little girl and a home. It feels like the last 2/3 years have been the easy/nice time

TMJM96

I'm 21 now and life is getting better.

I have a good* family life and I have an amazing friend group. I work in fast-food which is a million miles away from what I study and from what I want to do with my life, but it's an income.

As a child I was normal but when I started secondary school life became a bit difficult due to severe bullying and then issues with mental illnesses that I never really got help with until I started college 2 years ago.

Most of the bullying was a result of me being quite clearly different, I went to an all boys rural hurling school was so an obvious target. I was more interested in the arts and academia, I didn't care abut sports in the slightest. It resulted me in being incredibly self conscious and reserved among other issues which I'm only really beginning to deal with now.

Family life became quite strained when I did come out, with my mother refusing to talk to me for months which is quite difficult to deal with when you're 19, but things are getting better. We're on speaking terms now but I doubt she'll ever fully see me as her son but I've come to terms with that. I'm halfway through college but trying to be financially independent is difficult.

But I haven't regretted a single decision I've made in life. I know it sounds sad but being gay as probably been the biggest "issue" I've faced in my life thus far, but it allowed me to mature from a young age so I have a fairly strong idea of where to go from here that will get me out of the rut I find myself in atm.

brevity

I've had it easier than probably 95% or the people on the planet but it hasn't come easy if you know what I mean.

Great childhood, got to travel a lot and I knew that this wasn't something my friends had.

Secondary school was a disaster, even though i had friends I hated it. Couldn't sleep on Sunday nights...did pathetic in the leaving certificate.

PLC course and college was much better, had loads of fun, managed to get a degree and a job...my 20's was probably the best time thinking back.

I'm now working as a .net developer, have my house and family. I think about that Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime a lot...

Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm not but I have had it better than most.

I feel very lucky come from a large close family have two lovely children have a very happy second marriage and my first husband isn't the worst his is his own worse enemy really and has ended up on his own. I have a good job and education happy with my lot. The not so good bit were getting seriously ill and the stress of dealing with one of my children when they were a teenager it was actuley more stressful that being seriously ill. It bothers me the way my mothers life ended up and wish she could have been happier.

pauliebdub

Easy enough financially, I have a nice house and a job that pays all my bills. However I've never had a job that I particularly enjoyed and I feel dissatisfied.

J Mysterio

py2006 wrote: »

If you can walk, talk, see, hear and have a roof over your head, bed to lay yourself down in and food in your belly YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

Not so.

Jayop

Ups and downs. Lost my mum in my early teens. Had a couple of tough years in school around that event, getting into fights, not backing down from stuff that I should have but even looking back, where I was raised backing down may have made things worse. Went off to college, had a child with my partner very young and dropped out. Worked a load of crappy jobs for a long time but eventually got into a decent line in the motor trade before doing what I'm doing now. Pays pretty well but the hours suck. Got married a few years ago and have two great kids and a happy home.

Yeah, loads of troubles, times you'd be looking into the bottom of a whiskey glass wondering is it worth going on, but at the moment, all is pretty good in the world.

Jthreehats

....... wrote: »

Very difficult.

Very hard childhood, subjected to active alcoholism in the home and all that goes with it.

First decade of adulthood was similarly difficult with fall out and problems from the above. I had to make some horrifically difficult decisions in my life regarding family members, while not quite Sophies Choice, things that haunt me still and probably will forever.

Stability only came into reach in my mid 30s so less than 10 years now that I dont have to live with any chaos. Ive become quite cranky if people present with unnecessary drama now.

Despite all of the above I have done well academically, careerwise and financially. In fact, due to a bit of luck I might be able to retire quite early on a good pension.

Healthwise - a few recurring issues that cause a bit of strife but mostly ok.

Its really only the mental health I judge it by though, I could be a gibbering drooler in a corner considering some things Ive gone through, that I feel like a reasonably normal human being is a matter of luck really!

I would agree with that, my mental health is number 1 for me, being grateful for what I have and feeling productive day to day helps me feel good.

SEPT 23 1989

The hard stuff is the learning

It forms the man

SEPT 23 1989

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

The hard stuff is the learning

It forms the man

Totally agree with this.

We're all works in progress, developing until the day we die. The lessons we grow the most from are usually the really hard ones.

Alf Veedersane

I wouldn't say it's been easy - though that's relative - but I can't see how I could say I've been anything other than lucky.

Lucky to even just not have to go through some of the things I see and read about others going through.

bingocat

Thanks to my mother I've always had everything I needed. Nothing excessive but always what was needed so I'm grateful for that.

I haven't really enjoyed my life for any extended period of time since I was 17/18. I'm 21 now and my life looks great and if i could get over my issues it probably would be. I have a mom who cares about me, I'm on course to graduate with a 1.1 and I have a roof over my head.

But my own issues are holding me back. I'm gay and in the closet to almost everyone, I'm always worried people think badly of me if I complain and my dad causes a lot of trouble for us which makes me feel bad.

But all in all my life could be a lot lot lot worse than it is.

MAC addict

I've had a relatively normal childhood, had everything we needed but by no means spoiled.My teen years were abit up and down due to trying to fit in with the wrong crowd and some bullying too, but once I coped on everything started to mellow out. Now in my mid twenties everything is starting to come together after a few tough years financially, only now starting to make good money and not worry so much.

MuffinTop86

Reading little snippets of other peoples lives has really put things into perspective. It's always nice to stop and think what people are going through.
I've always been well cared for. My parents have always bern very loving, not in a huggy kind of way and my mum is very protective of me and my siblings.
I always thought I had it a bit harder as we progressed into teenage years because I was the youngest, the chubby one with less natural intelligence.
After college I spent 7 years working in my local shop. Met a man, fell in love, and with our limited income (he also worked in a supermarket) moved in. Then I got fired over a mistake. That was two years ago.
Now I'm 30 and finding the lack of structure quite difficult. Apart from a few short term contracts, I can't get used to not working full time and don't want to. I'm useless at aptitude tests so never make it as far as an interview, that's after going back to college and getting a postgrad in business.
But I'm still lucky to have great things, I just wish a good job was one of them.

Jayop

bingocat wrote: »

Thanks to my mother I've always had everything I needed. Nothing excessive but always what was needed so I'm grateful for that.

I haven't really enjoyed my life for any extended period of time since I was 17/18. I'm 21 now and my life looks great and if i could get over my issues it probably would be. I have a mom who cares about me, I'm on course to graduate with a 1.1 and I have a roof over my head.

But my own issues are holding me back. I'm gay and in the closet to almost everyone, I'm always worried people think badly of me if I complain and my dad causes a lot of trouble for us which makes me feel bad.

But all in all my life could be a lot lot lot worse than it is.

What can I say that's not almost a cliche at this stage? If you're gay and hiding that fact is holding you back from enjoying your life then don't hide it. Anyone that has a problem with it, fk them. If people you love have a problem, then leave them alone to deal with it. If they really love you they will and will come back to you.

Life is too short to allow other people's problems hold you back.