What unexpected struggles did you go through in your twenties and how did you overcome them?

I understand the feeling and I'm so sorry. I truly wish I could give you an exact solution but I don't know your situation. I can't pretend to know it. But if it helps, this is what happened to me.

Trigger warning.
I was, emotionally, at the lowest point in my life and constantly thinking about ways to end my life. It was early to mid-2017. The only thing holding me back was thinking of my parents who are quite old and sick themselves and how much it will hurt them. I gave myself an "expiry date". If NOTHING changes I'm allowed to do it.

I applied to a bunch of jobs. Every single interview went HORRIBLY because I was so shy and awkward. I literally got laughed out of one. It was the most humiliating and one of the saddest days of my life.

I got sick of it and one day just decided to fake confidence. They didn't know me, so I'll pretend to be the cool smart person in my head. I was going to die anyway so might as well have fun with it.

Maybe it was pure luck but in January 2018 I landed my first job at 23 years old because of that one interview. I only had a high school qualification, so it wasn't a great job. But it was mine. I worked my ass off there. I earned my own money and a little bit of freedom. It gave me a routine and that really helped me.

In May 2018, I just decided to take a leap of faith and applied to a university-affiliated program at a local college and started working towards my law degree. I was working during the day and going to class at night. I kept myself busy and that really helped too. Even then I never truly believed I was smart enough or good enough to be there. But I'm still here, in the middle of my second academic year.

I don't know if I found the strength or just ran out of fucks to give.

My "expiry date" is next week, but I'd like to stick around because things are getting interesting now.

I have stopped looking for others approval. I just appreciate myself for the things I do.
Some days it's getting really good marks in an assignment. Some days it's getting out of bed and brushing my teeth. I still have some anger issues and attitude problems that I am working on and will probably be working on forever.

I am rooting for you. I hope you know that you are not alone in this battle. This life is hard and being an adult is hard. But we have got to do this and we need to use these bad experiences to help us grow.

You'll have a really hard time when you decide to grab one of those opportunities but just keep going. You don't have to go strong, just do it at your own pace and strength.
I hope you will DM me when you make a change in your life. I would love to hear from you. I will wait for it.

/r/AskWomen Thread Parent