I Need a MORE-Challenging Life page

[Bosnic]

remove please... thread no longer needed.

[zoebird]

well, i think the main thing here is to start trying things. look at various jobs that are available out there (if any), and see what you like.

you might also contemplate what you like to do, how you like to spend your time, and see if there is work in those areas.

in the alternative, you can volunteer.

---

a lot of people actually do work that they love, and their lives are adventures in work and private life. it's possible. you just have to find our what lights you on fire.

[namelesswonder]

If you lived in a cement box with an open top that had all you could ever need to survive, would you be happy?

An over-simplification, sure, but just because all that an animal may need is simulated does not mean he is fooled and content. And you are clearly not content.

I definitely understand your desire for a challenge or a drastic change, having been there many times myself. I looked into exchange programs or teaching English abroad for a little while and that fulfilled my antsy-ness, and then I went to college & kept myself mentally stimulated. I did 4 years at a university and got a job on-campus that I loved and is now my career (tech support) with no certifications. At 23, I don't think that's too bad. Right now I work in an office (cubicle-land) which I'm not too pleased about and never though I'd go for, but it allows me to live & someday I will rise up the chain and thrive.

I am very close to your age so please trust me when I say that life is not all "dead-end jobs". You have to find what you love and pursue it at all costs. When I was in college, I thought this was fulfilled by following my favorite anarchist/punk/folk/cabaret band around the East coast and moshing my heart out, and while that's fun, it's not productive. I am finding a lot more joy in challenging myself in an environment I am mildly uncomfortable in, than just rocking out. I hope that doesn't make it sound like I'm settling for something dull, but I am somewhat of an intellectual, so I find work fun.

[bjbegoon]

I feel your pain. I'm older than you are (turning 30 in a few weeks) but I never had the caged up feeling until I had been Primal for a few weeks. Now I feel like I'm in a cage most of the time and on a leash the rest of the time. I haven't really sorted out what to do about it yet.

[LizardGurl]

What are you passionate about? Try to do something that involves your passion. Now's the time to do this, before you get tied down by responsibilities. Your job/work does not necessarily need to be your passion. It can be strictly to support your passion. No one can figure out what you particular thing is. That's up to you.

LG

[JennaRose]

I enjoy the job I have; I work for a paper shredding company and regularly I get to lift and carry boxes and do sorts of manual labors. The other day I got to smash hard drives with a hammer, that was really fun!
it can get a little boring, but usually I'm in the office alone so I can do fun workouts like jumping jacks, lunges, squats, and stuff like that it helps lol
sometimes, my coworker throws some meat on the grill we have in the yard and we chow down, its great!

i know what you mean about wanting to fend for yourself. it would definitely be interesting! i was learning some survival skills earlier this year, and it was awesome

btw, i'm just a bit older than you @ 24

[Littlesigh]

Join the military! If you do 4 years and survive that then you can complain... if you are really fit and want a challenge, then once you are in try out for some of the special forces. If you want it hard join the Marines or Army, easier...then Navy or Air Force. Of course depending on what you do in each branch will make a difference in how you are challenged!
I was much as you 40 years ago, only wasting away on drugs, joined the Air Force and never looked back until I did my 20 ...now I can complain!

Good Luck!

[zoebird]

i have problems with authority, so i couldn't go in for military or anything similar. LOL

i teach yoga and run my own yoga/holistic health business.

[namelesswonder]

^That's true, that would be a very intensive challenge, plus you get free college tuition out of the deal, but that is also a lot of time to invest and you don't really have any way out if you hate it. Then you're just miserable.

Better to just throw yourself out there and DO things, IMO. Fail while you can afford to do it! haha, not that it's a bad thing to fail ever, it just seems like it's easier to get away with it when you're young and your parents can (potentially) bail you out.

[HillsideGina]

Not everyone is in dead-end jobs. Lots of jobs are rewarding. Just out of HS you have no experiences to help feed your ability to find out about yourself. Get a series of temporary or part-time jobs doing different things and throw yourself into each of them. Learn, learn, learn. Listen and watch what's going on around you - how each place you have a job in works. Ask questions of the older, more experienced staff or managers or owners. Socialize. Be curious and soak everything up. As you do this you will find some things you like and some things you don't like. You will learn if you are good with words, good with numbers, good with people, good with gadgets, whether you prefer working alone or with a team, whether you are creative - what kind of brain you have in that head.

Until you get some experiences under your belt, there is NO WAY to know what you yourself are all about. In this period of youth you are fairly certain you know yourself, but believe me you don't. So I say that's the first part of the life journey - find out who you are and what makes you happy.

I've seen that the dead-enders are the folks who don't want to give 100% of themselves. Those who purposefully hold back because goddamnit it's just a job working for someone else. Well, that attitude is the kiss of death. It's self-fulfilling - those are the schleps who never get promoted really high up because, well, why would you promote a whining, negative person who just shows up and obviously doesn't give a shit? Duh. With a more go-get 'em, let-me-at-it, I-can-do-it, give-me-more attitude, you will more likely be in upper management by your early thirties. So what? Well, it may not be for you, but you can be a drone who doesn't learn anything for 10-12 years, or you can be the superstar who moves quickly up the ladder and learns a shitload about yourself and the world in the same amount of time.

Then you can move on and start your own thing, go into a different field, etc. Also, you'll have the self-confidence that the drone never gets, and will have made lots of friends in the process. Learn from those around you. If you don't know anyone, then in addition to getting a job, get a hobby that involves being around active people you can learn stuff from.

The people who don't give, don't learn, don't care and don't participate are the ones who don't evolve and end up as stunted individuals. And the stunted individuals don't have the tools to help themselves do interesting things with their lives. I've seen it. Believe me, at 51 years old, I see in my peers those who are happy, and those who are miserable. And it's all self-inflicted. It's all choices that were made through the years.