kamya said:
People that have issues with people that have dealt with similar situations telling others to "pull themselves up" are just lazy. I really believe that.
I just don't think it's ever that simple, and to suggest that it is seems condescending and insensitive. To put it into perspective, it would be like someone asking you why you didn't finish college, then not even listening to your response and saying it's because you're just lazy and stupid.
TheRealCallie said:
It's not about LIKING your life or your job or your responsibilities.
But this isn't the medieval era when life was "brutish, nasty, and short". We know, and have known for a while, that it doesn't have to be like that anymore. In the first world, enjoyment of your life is very possible. I would say that life is very much about liking your life, being someone you like, and enjoying your existence.
Besides nobody should have to live in the conditions OP described, with gangs, drug dealers, and gunshots. That's nothing short of insane. Telling someone that that's what they should have to settle for is bad advice, especially when you didn't grow up with a background to survive in that environment. It's like taking someone who has only ever lived a sheltered civilian life and shipping them off to war immediately with no training whatsoever.
TheRealCallie said:
Life's a *****, deal with it.
And there it is, the classic worker's mantra that has lead so many to just giving up on life completely, to alcoholism, hard drugs, and total abandon.
"Not everyone makes it. You're probably going to fail. Just roll over and die and get it over with."
This isn't what OP or anyone like him needs. I strongly believe that a person needs to feel like that things are going to get better and that they're going to make it. I feel you need to have some self-worth and be able to feel good about yourself, and that you can't get far without those things. OP needs hope, not defeatism.
OP, is there anything you'd like to study or pursue? Maybe you could make a plan on what field to get into, what your interests are, what your salary goals are, where you want to move to, and find a way to make them all meet.
You said you wanted to move to the northwest. That's a start, now get it more concrete. Do you mean northwest Arizona or the northwest United States?