What do you do when you’re feeling discouraged?

anyone can keep themselves occupied, you don't need a job for that. a job that lets you keep yourself occupied is arguably more pleasant than one that has you running in ten different directions at all times.

i went the job satisfaction route, and yeah it's nice, but what i would tell young me if i could send myself a message is to find an easy job that pays well and has no expectations outside of your scheduled hours. then you have the means to find satisfaction outside of the job.

 

It's not just the career/job thing, I actually like my job. No job is perfect, there'll be flaws anywhere I'd go. That was just a material example I could name, but in truth, I think this way with a few other things. Basically, I just wanted to see what others do when they're discouraged. Is it always as simple as trying to find ways to stay encouraged? When I compare my life to others in far away places who struggle to find drinking water, for example, I'm reminded that I honestly have nothing to be discouraged about. I watched a documentary a few months ago about a place in Africa where food was scarce, and there were a lot of local dangers to be worried about. But, the people of this village were always hopeful. Always encouraged. I wonder if we simply have too many choices in our culture here in the west, and we create our own discouragement. That could be.

 

The short answer is yes.

No prescribed anxiety meds in third world countries

 

Being a student of science fiction, I’m familiar with at least a dozen contemporary examples in literature and on the big screen in which the consciousness of one individual was downloaded into the body of another, so hypothetically speaking if it were possible you would suddenly find yourself in the body of a 6’2” 185 lbs black middle age male.

It could be quite the culture shock

 

I took notice of some people who do. Mainly old folks who get retired at age sixty or so and don't feel useful or meaningful in society anymore. It seems they took too much value from their (sometimes pretty mundane and very replaceable) work.

I take it you ideally would prefer to live and work in such a country? If not, i think your logic is jaded

 

This. if something or someone makes me not feel good to be alive or happy...time to move on.

 

well i've never been big on beating my head against walls. when i come to one i try to find a way around.
i don't know if i could have gone further some other way, but i've never found one and doubt i'd be happier doing so.

 

Just got to your thread for the first time. So I haven’t read all the other posts quite yet. So here’s what I do.

In the past I used to be very hard on myself when I feel discouraged or am facing failure. My gut reaction was to call myself an idiot, and go on about how much life sucks.

Now I take that initial reaction and turn it positive. I say “you got this” over and over again. I also try to remember the failure stories of some of the most famous and successful people. And how they overcame it.

 

Thanks everyone! Your advice has helped, and I'm feeling better. Resolute, I guess? I'll see this through, instead of giving up. I believe in signs, and there are signs that seem to be pointing in a positive direction.

Do you believe in signs?

 

When nothing is going your way you break something.

 

Their are signs of course.

 

People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?

 

I read an inspirational quote first thing every morning, meditate twice a day and set small goals everyday instead of being overwhelmed by large ones.

 

Why don't ya, get a haircut.. And get a real job.

 

Looove this advice! It could be why I get overwhelmed.

 

Before I looked at this post I threw out a few hazelnuts to a squirrel I like to watch every morning. Perfect timing.

 

I imagine I've landed on an alien planet called Earth, and that it's not perhaps the final destination.

 

Well, I don't either, quite frankly, but usually I ignore the first red flags thinking it must have been a mistake made by me or something...Never again.....I will listen to myself right away and the FIRST red flag right away.....not the 100th....

 

this helps, but i don't imagine ANYTHING is final. no proof ever is, no argument ever is, so why expect that any life or death ever is?
(for me at least, serial mortality is much easier to believe in the eternal anything, even if that might include periods of complete nonexistence between lives)
(and of course, there are, more likely then not, at least billions of populated worlds, to be randomly born on. more then that, what is not known is not known though)