How easy/hard has your life been until now?

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

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.

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.

The hard stuff is the learning

It forms the man

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.

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.

It's like a collection of fekin blogs!

Being honest, it hasn't been very easy.

Growing up we weren't poor but we were a long way from rich and my parents always acted as if we has less than we had. I remember when I was very young my father refusing to give me 2 euro to go the local shop for sweets - at the time I felt awful for asking, I understand now that he was just trying to prevent me from becoming a spoiled, rotten child.

I never liked school, although academically I was usually one of the best because I worked quite hard. I struggled with the social aspect and had very poor confidence and that's still a huge issue for me today. I've always struggled to make friends, I'm not sure why. I am almost always polite and friendly, perhaps people notice my lack of confidence and perceive as coldness. I didn't really enjoy my childhood because my parents constantly fought and the atmosphere at home was usually horrible. I think I built up a distrust of people because of that and it's really affected my ability to make friends.

I'm in college now and I travel home from Dublin every weekend to work part time and it's a tough slog because I live a long way from Dublin, but I am grateful for the job and the chance to earn money and contribute to bills and rent. I hate the job but it I need it and it gives me the opportunity to progress hopefully. I also got the college course that I really wanted and I am genuinely delighted about that aspect of my life.

I'm still fairly young and so I'm fairly optimistic that things will get better and in fairness they could be a lot worse. There's definitely people who have struggles and difficulties which dwarf mine in comparison. I think everyone has personal struggle which seem huge at the time but, given time, they can be overcome and proven to be quite inconsequential when one takes a look at the bigger picture. I am grateful for what I have, and for what I don't - it gives me something to strive for.

An enlightening thread….
Muddled through childhood and the teenage years. Father was clinically depressed, lovely man underneath all of it, but still and all his mood swings dictated everything. My mother would sit there and say nothing while he shouted, slammed doors and called me everything under the sun. Left home at 18 to go to college, drank too much, did stupid things and scraped a pass. Twenties were okay, met my lovely husband who saved me really. Now we have three beautiful kids, one with autism. Love and cherish my family, and all of the little petty things that worried me before now don't matter at all. Feel quite isolated having a child with special needs, even normal activities like going to a cafe are out of the question as he's too disruptive. I live my life hoping that things will improve. I spend every day "working" with him and trying to bring him on as has learning difficulties. My mother told me recently that I'll be "rewarded in heaven". That really upset me, as if life will never get better. I guess I feel after everything, I am strong and I have a lot of love to give.

Well, when I was a kid we were so poor we had corn flakes with water and we never had the money to do literally anything except stay alive. My parents were still wonderful parents, and still are but we struggled with money a lot. As a teen I never got girls or was seen as a viable boyfriend for anyone.

Now my life is class. I have money, a nice swiss girl, job, apartment and two cats. I'll make sure my cats never have to have water with their corn flakes