What do you do when you're life is in a slump?

Depends on if your current slump will lead to success down the road. You can be the free spirit and rock the boat and do crazy things and have a blast but then realize you have no money left.. or you can be the type who rarely does anything fun, stays in the slump and develops financial stability and security. Is it about money for you at this point? Or are you just wanting to have some fun?

Personally, I get bored of things pretty easily so I’m always moving onto new things.. which is why i never finished my degree… it’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing to rock the boat .. but perhaps it would be wise to just… dance in the boat.. or shake it a little without totally rockin it.

Bleh. Horrible horrible typing fingers.. always dispelling my clairvoyant and insightful thoughts into gibberish. Meh.. I tried.

If you can afford to go away to college GO. I was similar to you; half doing school, kind of working at a career. My dad dragged me to see two campuses, and I bit the bullet and did it. Best decision I ever made. Not just because I finished my education, but because I had so much FUN!

You should pick one class at your community college that really interests you. Trying something new usually helps.

I suggest that you never fritter away a portion of your (not you’re) life. You can never reclaim that stage.

You could rethink what you are studying at CC or take a year off and think about what you are interested in or passionate about. You can’t paddle a canoe without a little rocking. Otherwise, it’s called just sitting there in the water, moored to the dock.

You could work on the relationship or end it.

You could make active plans for a way to move out of your house.

I assume you are young, energetic and in good health.

A. Get some exercise. Go on a run or long walk every day.
B. Select one of the issues (job, school, home) and think about what you need to do in relation to that one issue each time you exercise.
C. Find something new that you want to do to add some enjoyment to the doldrums.

Life isn’t what happens to you. Life is what you do with it. Go make something happen.

You should decide on some goals for yourself. Where do you want to be in a year? In five years? In ten years?

And then look at what you’re doing now. Will your community college degree help you reach your goals? Will it interfere? Will your relationship help you reach your goals? Will it interfere? Will living at home help you reach your goals? Will it interfere? You get the idea.

If you just go with the flow and wait for that stage of your life to be over, it never will be. And it’s always better to move to something you want than away from something you don’t want, although they are hard to distinguish from outside.

There is no such thing as “frittering” away your life. You are in a time of uncertainty, and this is going to force you to take some kind of action. Perhaps you will go to a four-year college. Perhaps you will break off your relationship. Perhaps you will take a trip around the world. Perhaps you’ll join the circus. Take up painting. Start writing poetry. Reading Proust.

Your feeling that you are in a slump may move you or may not. In either case, you will continue to make meaning out of your life. If you want to “break out” then take an action. Any action. Write a list. Flip a coin. Meditate. Focus on your inner desires. Your wild dreams. Then make a plan that starts you down the path towards those dreams and desires. You may not get to them, or you might. In either case it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the trip you are on.

Look around. Smell roses. Or smell convenience stores (what is that weird smell they all seem to have?) Be a slacker. Hang out with artists. The possibilities are endless.

Endless.

I know how it feels to be in a slump and I don’t disagree with anything anyone has said prior to this, however I do feel that it is easy for people who have gotten out of their own “slumps” to say things like make a plan, exercise, etc. All of these are things you have to do in life to ensure long term success, but (in my experience) I have found the first step out of a slump is much more simple…

Just force a change. You work at convenience store and hate it? Start sending out resumes or better yet quit, that will put some fire under your ass. CC isn’t going anywhere? Take a break, go to Europe, Australia, or where ever you have dreamed of going.

Only you know how you envision your life in 30 years and for this reason only you can decide what the best path to take is.

Work more. When life feels like doddie, I go to work and feel effective, valued, challenged and I get paid for it all while being actively distracted and kept out of doing destructive things or moping around.

A small dynamite blast in one of those ruts might have an interesting ripple effect.

Even if you do nothing, something will change. It is inconceivable for things to remain exactly like that for any significant length of time. School in particular changes from semester to semester just by its very nature.

But perhaps you would prefer to choose the changes yourself rather than to just let them happen to you. Changing your physical location would upset all the balances.

@drClaw: I don’t recommend “just making a change” without having a destination in mind. Sometimes feeling like you’re in a slump means you’re working steadily on all cylinders and nothing much has changed lately, but if you’re making progress towards your goals then making a change is a bad idea.

That’s why it’s important to know what your goals are.

@cwilbur I disagree. Especially when your young you don’t always know what you are working towards. I guess what I mean is if your current path isn’t opening up new options the best thing you can do is start making changes. It could be something as minor as a gym membership to make you realize health is your interest in life or as major as uprooting your current life, spending a year abroad to make you realize business/language/etc. is your passion.

I guess my opinion is only for someone who doesn’t have a plan, but I truly believe that life experience is the best door opener and if your experience in life has become redundant then it’s time to make changes (big or small).

Wow, they let you ask this question? Uh, your not in a slump your life is just the way it’s supposed to be, and I have a saying “supposed too’s will get you killed”

Really re-assess your long term and short term goals and make sure you’re “on course” for whatever it is you want…....Being medicore and somewhat content is something I was familiar with until I decided to not compromise anymore and listen closely to my heart.

@Jess, did you mean “mediocre”?

Once you have looked at all these helpful answers my advice to you is to find somewhere to go and think. My example of what I mean is when I used to get really stressed there is this big hill i used to climb and sit on the top, from the top you could see the whole of my home town (very pretty place) and I’d envisage that town as the place of my problems and by being on that hill I was no longer in the middle of them and was able to breath and think more clearly. I’d always go back feeling more peaceful and clearer about decisions I’d been struggling with similar to yours.
This really does help, I hope you try it :)

A little perspective does wonders. Good suggestion, @saraaaaaa.

Sometimes just finding a quiet place for meditation away from distractions right in your own house or yard can help. Be still and just breathe and put all thoughts away.

If it is difficult for you to figure out what you want, or to determine a goal to work towards you can try thinking of the paths you are on…look down the road 3 years from now, and decide which you might regret more. Not having finished your degree, still living with your parents, still working at the same job? That might help you get more focused on what you want to change, or what you want to focus on.

@bumwithablackberry: What does ‘and I have a saying “supposed too’s will get you killed” ’ mean?

I agree with @drClaw. Force a change. Do something that you wouldn’t otherwise do. Drive to someplace you’ve never been over the weekend. Clean out your closet. Repaint your room. Commit to a volunteer project. Say something nice to at least one person every day. Learn a new craft—start knitting, quilting, etc. Take a cooking class. Go play paintball. Go hear a band you’ve never heard before. Plan a trip, and save for it.

@gailcalled It’s just a saying, when you hear someoe say, such and such a person was supposed to be here, or things were supposed to happen this way. Maybe I’m just fatalistic, but I feel like that will play a role in my end. I’ll be standing there swaying in the breeze saying “this wasn’t supposed to happen”

@bumwithablackberry: Now I understand. Thanks

@PandoraBoxx I love when someone agrees with me!!! ;-)

Some community colleges give you the option of completing general education requirements and then transferring those credits over to a four year university… so I would definitely check into that but don’t necessarily go into a degree you hate.

While you’re taking classes, if you’re confused, take a few electives in each area of interest and narrow it down that way.

As it was mentioned, start sending out your resume elsewhere if you dislike your job. The main way we become discontent with life, even if it necessarily isn’t “bad”, is by standing still and not experiencing new things. You may not know what you’re missing out on if you never attempt to do anything different.

Get out, join groups that interest you. Meet new friends instead of sticking around the same ones all the time. There’s so much to do in the world that can make a person feel fulfilled… there’s no reason to just say your life was “okay.” You should always be doing something great and memorable.

Sober up

i would try something small, like drinking, then move on to other things, like petty theft, then work my way up to writing, then start a family (watching miniature versions of yourself fight each other is extremely fun), then run for office, the higher the better, like senator. Then start boinking the intern and when she tries to expose your affair, deny it, pay her to move to a foreign country, then tell everyone she had an “accident”, her head met your shovel, or something like that. when all that is done, sell your memoir. I’d read it.