What has my life become?

Mid life crisis at 15? Not good sounding to me.

Ha ha ha ha ha, Of COURSE you do! Nothing really ended up going for me until maybe late freshman/early sophomore year in high school, and look at me now (yeah I know, I’m only 19) but I’m in West Point now. You’re still a kid, you still have so much room and time to grow, to improve, to shine, but if you become like Miley Cyrus or Justin Beiber I will hunt you down, lol jk. Go have fun with your friends, just don’t forget the academics and extracurricular activities, they’re all equally important at your stage in life.

@lawlipop, the realization at 15 that the path of nothingness is not what you want is the perfect place to make a future for yourself. Your life, you own it. Make it what you want it to be.

Most people miss opportunities because they show up in overalls, and look like work.

@Winters @BarnacleBill That’s nice enough to say but, I don’t know if anything will end up “going for me.” In all seriousness. Absolutely nothing interests me. I’m not in any clubs at my school. My grades are mediocre. I just don’t see the point anymore.

Just make sure in ten years you have some answers to that question that you like.

It’s not that the application is trying to weed out people who haven’t won beauty contests, spelling bees, science fairs and talent contests of all kinds, and they will brook no impostors. They just want to see where you have been, how you think, and the kinds of things that you think are important. If you have a pet that loves you and you take care of every day, well, that’s an accomplishment, and it shows that you can be relied upon to take care of a pet, for example.

It also shows a bit about your ability—and willingness—to express yourself, which are both valuable commodities in business.

If your main claim to fame is a high score in a video game, then you might mention that, and also mention that “answering this question has made me realize that I do want to achieve more in my life”, for example. If that’s true, anyway.

hmmm, do you read books? for pleasure I mean? and why are you looking for a job for at 15? You sound like you are sad? just start small as for interests, and I hope you have some good friends that you like. I never knew what to say in answer to those type of questions on job applications, all my life.

you have humility… write that down

If you do want to do something, start with grades. Crank up the studying efforts. Pick a weird sport, like fencing, where everyone’s new to it, or one that’s an individual sport like cross country. Get out there and run your ass off. The exercise will help you feel less depressed.

Each little thing builds upon the one before. Running is good because, like swimming, the goal is improving, beating your own last time. Each time you do it, it gets a little easier and a little better.

Keep in mind it takes 30 days of doing something every day to make a new habit. Make that the goal, to get through 30 days. And the see where you are. it won’t be where you are today!

Trade ya, I’m 25 and I feel the same way…. even with some accomplishments.

@trailsillustrated Yeah, I do enjoy reading. And I’m looking for a job because my dad says I should get one. I don’t particularly want to work. I have a couple close friends, but I enjoy being alone more.

@BarnacleBill Ehh, I hate sports.

Dude, when I was 15 I was the most introverted antisocial jerk on the planet. Eventually something should catch your eye, just find something you love to do, you don’t even have to be actively looking for it either. Do you like debating? Join a speech and debate club. Fixing cars? Autoshop. Just go on with life and when something comes by catches your eye, grab onto it (note: this does not include voluptuous asses or boobs or someone’s junk, depending on your orientation).

And if you love books, maybe try getting a job as a library page, and perhaps your talent lies in writing stories if books are your joy in life.

@Winters “the most introverted antisocial jerk on the planet.” That sounds a lot like me, ha.
Also, I’m a girl, and I’m straight. No voluptuous asses and boobs for me.
And I can’t write to save my life. I have a hard time translating my brain-speak into coherent sentences.

@lawlipop just go on with life, stick to school, do your best to get into a college or some sort of apprenticeship, You’ll find something, trust me, sooner or later everyone does, its just a matter of if they’re willing to give it their all to pursue it.

I can identify, not because I feel that way now, but because I felt much the same way you did when I was your age. This probably isn’t want you want to hear, but give it time. Try different things. I dropped out of Law School at the University of Illinois to join the Army and go to Vietnam. I liked the military so well, I made a career out of it. I’m not suggesting you do that, necessarily, but only that you give yourself a variety of work experiences. At least you may discover things you DON’T like! : )

@CaptainHarley That really does sound great and everything. It does.
I just feel like I have a deeper problem. Or maybe I’m just being dramatic and self-centered. I don’t know.
I mean, I would like to start branching out, to try different things. But my motivation to do so, to do anything, is seriously lacking. I don’t really know why that is. Maybe I’m just a spoiled, privileged kid who is really friggin’ lazy.

@lawlipop: Everyone here will tell you that I have very high standards. That established, let me say that your writing is terrific…clear, accurate, perfectly spelled and punctuated, lively and a pleasure to read.

@gailcalled Oh. Well, thanks very much. But it’s the creative writing that kills me. I have a more analytical approach to language than a creative one.

Then forget creative writing and be analytical. Write essays, memoires, newspaper articles…

How about something like this for the next time you fill out an app or better yet, save it for interview questions:

What is your greatest achievement so far?
“As much as I haven’t had yet or experienced, I have a stronger feeling for being open rather than empty. I feel like a cupboard to be filled and want to fill it with good and valuable things.”

@lawlipop
Trust your elders kiddo, this too shall pass and soon, poof you’ll be 25 with lots of stuff to write about. lol

As thers have suggested, tap into what it is that really motivates you. Figure out what it is that you really like to do that makes time fly, and research what fields cater to that. Trust me…you do have talents. You just either haven’t recognized them yet, or no one in your inner circle has put a name to it. Look at all of the people in history that had to reach adulthood in order to realized their own natual talents.

What are your achievements? I assure you they are there, but that you just don’t see them as achievements. I started a small farming operation when I was 17. I designed and built a bard. I organized labor to help with the construction. I ordered the supplies I needed. I did a bunch of other shit for the project, but for me, it was just for fun, and since it was just for fun, it didn’t count for anything.

Only recently have I realized that I was doing what a general contractor and what an entrepreneur does. But it never landed on my resume during those years when it probably would have done a lot of good.

What have you done? Played sports? Played games? Worked with a Church, or with a political cause? Have you watched more hours of TV than is humanly possible.

I suggest you write down everything you have done in the last year or so. Everything. Even the stuff you think is nothing. I think when you look at that list, some things will start to stand out. Those will be your serious achievement list. You have not done nothing for the last year. It is impossible to do nothing. At least, in the context we are discussing. The stuff you do that you think is nothing is the stuff that will be your achievements.

Just look at me. I’m almost four times your age, and I still do nothing. At least, that’s how it is in my personal eyes. In my work eyes, I have done a hell of a lot. It’s a state of mind, not any idea of reality. You’ve done things, you just don’t see them because you think that nothing you do counts.

Don’t worry. You can live a life doing absolutely nothing. In fact, that’s what some of the greatest sages in history have done. Sort of.

Oh to be 15 again. If I had it to do over screw playing basketball and just run, bike, swim, and start playing guitar…like everyday. There’s plenty of people who are envious of 15 years…I am sure they are also envious of my 29.

Are you open to new experiences?
Are you easy to get along with?
Do you know how to be a good friend?
Have you ever supported someone through a crisis?
Have you done well in a difficult subject?
Have you made your peace with some limitation?
Have you learned to get along with a difficult person?

Those are all achievements just as much as winning prizes, completing marathons, launching fund-raising campaigns for charitable causes, and creating breakthrough software that has been snapped up by hi-tech giants.

Don’t sell yourself short. With the skills that @gailcalled has pointed out, you can surely figure out how to recognize and value the things you have done and discover how to build on them for a productive future.

Oh, girlie… I think most of us have been where you are. I’m not trying to be dismissive when I say it’s teenage angst. Very, very normal. The really great thing is that not only do you recognize it, you want to change it. Some people never get that far!

I see this as two different questions:

1) What have I actually accomplished? I think you’ve got to explore your day-to-day life for the answers, as others have suggested. Little things add up to a lot.

2) Will I ever feel differently? How can I make that happen? Time, experience, and lots of exploring will get you there. Keep faith in yourself!

Your life has become about sitting by a computer asking anonymously of anonymous people, what your life has become. Sounds like you need need to go out and get one.

@Rarebear Irrelevant.

If you were at an AA meeting they would tell you to ACT YOURSELF INTO A WAY OF THINKING. Add that to the Nike slogan, JUST DO IT and you have the recipe for banishing your lack of motivation. Also, and this one is my own, lethargy breeds lethargy. If I sit around thinking how crappy I feel and how lazy I am, I don’t accomplish a damned thing and then I hate myself more. You have to get up and do something, anything, just move, move, move. I guarantee you will begin to get engaged and involved in your own life if nothing else, but that is the most important anyhow. Now get out there and DO IT! :-)

It’s just because you’re fifteen, sixteen will be better. I feel the same way and I’m almost 33. You never have time to waste, but it happens. That question was whack you should have just made something up, like your an Eagle Scout, or you make your own cheese. This is a question I have wanted to ask but didnt because it’s so hard to answer. Your life is fine, learn to enjoy simple things, and don’t wait for “it” to happen, you got to make it happen, that’s the only way you can keep it.

Why is @Rarebear‘s comment irrelevant? Is he mistaken?

Your profiles says but one thing about what you like to do… “I like to internet.”

Why is @Rarebear‘s comment irrelevant?

For what it’s worth.

When I was 15 I was surrounded by people who cared about things that for me had no meaning. At the same time I really wanted to be accepted and liked by some of the students in my year, who were the same students I had no respect for. it made no sense. I made no sense. I didn’t fit into the values of my family. Nothing had any purpose or meaning….at least that is, nothing that was seen as meaningul by the others around me, had meaning to me.

With hindsight, I was happiest when I was escaping into books, or escaping on my bike, into the forest or into the water.

So for me the answer lay there…in knowledge and nature. But it took years to find my feet. To be honest, nothing fell into place until I was in my mid twenties. That involved unchaining myself from my families expectations, and finally comitting myself to something I loved… biology.

All I know is that for myself (and many many others…) being lost at 15 is not indicative of being lost forever.

Perhaps try to understand what does get you upset or angry about the world, and what gives you the most joy…or the closest thing to it that you feel. Sometimes that can help you identify what has greatest meaning in life for you….and that gives a purpose, in the pursuit of joy, or the righting or wrongs, etc…

I don’t know if any of that is helpful. All I can say is that at 15 my life was simply miserable, and now its simply wonderful….and all that wonderment completely overwhelms the misery I felt then.

Hang in there.

Addendum: “Internet” is never a verb. Hence, “I like to internet” is unacceptable.

@gailcalled

Unless english is not ones native language, like a sign in Taiwan that read, ’ Let’s cafe’. lol

Oh, come on! You mean you come home and sit in an absolute blank room everyday? What do you do with your time? What do you do with your friends?

Don’t feel discouraged. Every school has your class of overachievers – the one’s that are in every club/sport that the school offers, get all A’s in the honor’s tract, already have their way-paid through college and basically already have their life cut out for them. If you’re not one of these kids, don’t worry, no one is that picture perfect. Everyone has their problems and everyone has their obstacles, as well as strengths and weaknesses, as well as journey in life. Everyone works at a different pace as far as “finding oneself” goes. You have to fall somewhere in the scheme of things, it’s really just a matter of finding it.

You may not know where that somewhere is just now but perhaps one day you will. I know people in their 40’s still in college because they just dont know what they want out of life, how to get where they want to be, or they dont even know where they’re supposed to be.

My advice is to just live your life. When you’re ready, you will find your place and you will make your own advancements. In the meantime, why dont you try starting small somewhere? Volunteer somewhere – homeless shelter, animal shelter, hospital, daycare, health centers? Pick up a new hobby – ride bike, go jogging, play ultimate Frisbee, go hiking, tennis, read books, collect a certain item? Knit?

Perhaps getting a part-time job somewhere might not be a bad idea – you may meet a new circle of people and you may get some new insight on what to do with your life next. Someone or something there may inspire your next move. Who knows, be optimistic about it.

What kind of person are you?? Are you average looking, are you a social butterfly, meaning, do you associate to a lot of different groups of people? Do you have a happy life at home? Do you go to any parties? I ask this because you might be an out of shape social out cast with an alcoholic step father. Just to suggest a scenario. My family life was pretty bad, I was abused from a very early age. I was cool with a lot of different groups at school and hung out with the “cool” kids. I ditched my friend that I had since kindergarten when he started using drugs, and started to hang out with the “cool” kids, who later turned out to be not so cool. I suffered from sadness, not so much depression, the difference is sadness is for a reason, depression is irrational. I feel for you, if you an average person, find what makes you unique, find out what you’re good at, and/or do one thing better than everyone else. Oh if your feeling suicidal, PM me, I have some experience with that.