Helllo @Bananatime04  !    Im not familiar with what's been going on with your side and the extent of the story. But I just wanted to let you know that you should firstly be proud of yourself for looking out for those around you and pushing yourself to cheer them up. With that said please make sure that amidst all this you don't forget to look after yourself too. I realise it's hard seeing those you love struggling and you want to do everything and anything to get them back up but don't forget to check up on yourself and give yourself time to rest and be happy too.   With your mom im not sure as to what you should do as I haven't been in experiences quiet like it, but don't give up and the fact that your showing her you care and that you're looking after her already is so much.   Maybe you could try to talk to your relatives and other family ? Sorry if my recommendations don't line up with some things you might have said in your previous posts.   Hope you and your mom gets through this <3    ... View more

Hey Jae !    We are all different with different preferences and tolerance. Normal is such a hard term to fit into since most people will break that mold in one way or another and that's not always a bad thing.   First I think that letting those around you know how you feel and set boundaries is a good thing and communication is key. Also does your family know about how you've been feeling ? If not I think it'll be good to have a casual chat with them.   Don't be afraid of exploring yourself and talking about things. I recommend that maybe you see some professional help so they can figure out what exactly could be causing you to feel this way and what are some techniques you could employ to help your everyday life.   ... View more

Hi @iworryway2much  !    Focusing on your problems at work, I can definitely relate to how you might be feeling as I went through something similar in my first job. I felt like I was always messing up, I was anxious, worried, and always on edge since I was new. Even after weeks I felt like I hadn't improved and was always feeling scared and stressed at every shift. For me my problem stemmed from not being able to learn fast enough and adapt to the workplace so that I could work efficiently. If that's the same for you than I encourage you to ask for help to improve. There is no shame in asking for a refresher at work so that you do your job better. However if it ever gets too much I encourage you to talk to your manager about what you guys can do. The more you expose yourself and talk to those at work the less intimidating and harsh and scary the environment will seem.   I hope you figure things out !   ... View more

Hi @Topito  !    I hope you're doing well and that you found someone to talk to. Just wanted to check in with you incase you still had something on your mind. We are here for you :)))   ... View more

Hey @Foreverfeelinglonely !    We all go through the stage of feeling alone and left out, some experience this more than others. Its really been something that I try to counter and help out with since ive had a part of my life where I felt really alone and I had a fear of being left behind by those I cared about. Personally I had the revelation that I had to stop trying to pin my happiness on other people. While it is great to have a group of friends and be surrounded by people, the weren't ever going to be enough If I didn't work on myself first. People wont always be permanent but you are, because at the end of the day you're the only person who will always be with you and you need to learn to enjoy that and love yourself. I found exercising, going into hobbies, exploring passions, and genuinely building myself up the best way to overcome this problem. Once I was confident with myself and I valued that I didnt need to rely on myself, I found it so much easier to be social and to attract the right people.   I hope you find what you're looking for, and remember that you'll always have a place here if you need someone to talk to.   ... View more

Heyo @DruidChild, Im still fairly young and in that stage of building towards getting a job (Im at Uni), and I honestly have struggled in the past to figure out what i'm supposed to be doing. I think its important to find your vocation but it wont always be the first thing you commit to. A lot of my family is going back to uni to get different degrees and try new things in life and I think its never too late to start. One thing to note as well is your passion doesn't always have to be your job since that can realistically be hard to come by. Maybe there's a way to balance a decent job and still invest in a deep passion such as a hobby or on the side ? For now maybe the best thing for you to do is to give yourself as much options for the future and try to set the groundwork and back-up plans so you try and explore and expand your life down the path.   Hope you figure out everything ! ... View more

I love this post so I thought Id share some that I found and enjoy to include in my posts and comments <3     ... View more

Heyo @aircatcher    Im happy that you're reaching out and exploring your sexuality. Not everyone will understand or agree with who you are as a person and I know it can be hard especially if they are your family. Dont feel pressured to open up to them if you are not ready, just know that you most likely will have to sometime in the future. But first figure yourself out first and where you stand with your sexuality.   With your best friend I think the first think you could do is to figure out her sexuality and if there's a possibility she is Bi and maybe take the convo from there. Dont pressure her but just have a casual chat if you can. I also dont think its fair if shes knowingly flirting with you without making things clear as it can create confusion and tension where there shouldn't be. Since you guys are best friends, I think you should just clear it up with one another without going into the discussion of you maybe having feelings for her,  maybe save that discussion after you've figure out her intentions and where shes stands with her sexual preference to avoid giving yourself false hope.    But just a small warning, im not saying dont date your best friend, but really think hard about it and how it can affect your friend group. Its sad to say but ive had friends in my group who dated and things get really weird for us sometimes and if they break up it can get messy. Just something to think about, and I dont want to discourage you. Be brave with your choices, but give time to think about it and talk to your friends.    Hope this helps and best of luck !     ... View more

Heyo @Just_A_Somebody    I think theres nothing you should be worried about, people grow out of their interest and develop new ones and that's 100% completely normal.   For example with me I go through various stages in liking different types of music where I will be really into one thing, and then after a few months change to something different. For the majority of my life I didnt think I could enjoy rap music at all, but around 18 I found myself understanding and liking some rap artists despite me low key hating and looking down and not understanding that type of music for a really long time.   Even playing video games which is something I've done for my whole life I used to be very into first person games, but as I grew older I enjoyed more top down strategy games, but I will still go back to the other genres from time to time.   I think this just simply means your growing as a person. developing your scope, and widening your interests which if anything is a really good thing. Everyone will find new things to enjoy, and sometimes its the things we expect the least    Lastly are you worried that you wont be able to enjoy action movies anymore ? or are you just curious as to why your interest has shifted ?   https://gph.is/1Gldx6T ... View more

Hey Hozzles !   Im not all familiar with the full story of whats going on, but going off this post I can tell you one thing for sure. Im proud of you for pushing yourself despite the rejections and the obstacles and having the drive and motivation that you do after being so frustrated. You should be proud of yourself for placing your family ahead of your needs in these cases and being a trooper that keeps on goin !   I dont have much experience or advice I can give directly to your problem, but Im happy you're getting your thoughts out there and If I could leave you with one piece of advice, is to make sure you find time for yourself during all this. I know it can be hard since you might have to grind uni and job searching, but find time to do things you enjoy or something you find relaxing and just give yourself time to ease of mind and wind back.   Also I think its a great idea to talk to your GP and ask for suggestions and feedback !   Heres a parrot to hopefully make your day a little better, Best of luck and keep us updated    ... View more

Heyo @Milkninja222 :) I really appreciate this post since it shows people that something a lot of people take for granted (listening and understanding) can be vastly different experiences to people, and its good to know that and be patient with others. For me listening is something that is a lot harder than most people expect. Whether it be good news, bad news, someone asking for help, encouragement, or just discussing, knowing how to listen changes depending on the situation. A few things I like to do is to read between the lines and not just listen to their words, but their tone, speed of speech, pauses, and little things that might give me more information on what they are trying to tell me. Another thing thats key like I mentioned before, is to be patient. It is so important to just be patient with the person talking (and also the person listening) and take time to ask questions, understand, elaborate, and explain. Lastly a trap I see a few people get into which is to do more with replying, is the issue of unintentionally making it about themselves. This can be problematic for a range of reason since they're likely coming for you for help and support, and you should focus on them and their needs. With my and my partner we struggle sometimes to remember we are not trying to argue, but our tone and the way we speak comes off as really aggressive or defensive which I think stems from not really listening and considering what the other person is saying. Its important to put yourself in their shoes and not jump into conclusions and instead ask questions and try to understand so you can discuss calmly. I hope my experiences have shed some light on even little things and was somewhat helpful. ... View more

Heya @michael17 Im glad to hear that despite everything you're still going through High school and trying to find ways to improve and thats something you should be proud of. As for advice I firstly want you to know that being unmotivated in High school is a very common problem for a lot of students. A few things you could ask yourself is where you want to be in the future and what kind of job or profession you think you would be interested in. Set goals and get yourself ahead as much as you can because your future you will thank you for that. Trust me, I was a very heavy procrastinator in high school and during year 11 and 12 due to personal / relationship problems I lost motivation to try and study during trials and HSC, I was lucky enough to get into Uni through other means which brings me to my next point. High school isnt everything, and if you've tried to improve then that's great, but dont feel pressured or down if you dont excel as much as you would want to. People have different learning environments and pathways through life so try to find something that works for you. It can be TAFE, apprenticeships, or getting through Uni via means like early entry programs (I got in through GLEP). Lastly I suggest you find things around school you could volunteer for and have as extra curricular. Help with everything you can and get involved. This was the reason I was able to get into university despite not having the best grades since entry programs look into your entire schooling experience and not just academic marks. ... View more

Hey AYRC ! :)) Hope youre doing well !   Whilst im currently at Uni, I can sort of relate to not always wanting to go to school since my High School wasn't the best. For those who feel the same, just know that it doesn't last forever, and that personally speaking, life gets to much more interesting and BIG afterwards regardless of where you choose to go.   Best of Luck to those going back, You just gotta hang in there ! ... View more

Hey Bailey ! I hope you're well :)   While my advice is not specific to controlling your moods swings, since I understand that sometimes you don't choose to have them and you don't choose to have your emotions all over the place. What i'm suggesting is more to help with how you can deal with the aftermath of taking it out on your partner.   A really big thing people should make sure they do is to always apologies after the fact, regardless of what it is. Its understandable that mood swings tend to make people do things that they don't intend to do. You don't have the intention of annoying, hurting, and however other ways you take it out on your partner. You are not actively on purpose trying to this to them. If your partner understand that it makes the next step a lot easier, and that is to apologies and make amends.   Tell them ASAP after you do have a grip on your actions, how sorry you are for putting them through it, and that you don't mean to. Express how you want to change and be better, and how you're trying to get a hold on things. Let them know that its never your intention to take it out on them. This to me personally makes a whole lot of difference in taking some strain out of your relationship, since I understand that some things cant be changed and controlled that easily. But you can apologies and try make it up to your partner more easily.   Hope this helps :) ... View more

Thank you for your kind message, you also sound like a very wonderful and caring person and your family and friends are lucky to have you.   One thing you stressed that I agree with is taking time to make sure you are okay, and taking some time for yourself, and doing things for yourself. Its important to manage your own well being on top of others, especially since you wont be much use helping those around you, if you don't even help yourself.   With the list of things that you didn't appreciate that your friends did when you came looking for support, I think the key is to communicate your needs. I get this is difficult in a lot of circumstances, and opening up an asking directly for help can be hard. However, I've come across situations where my friend thought they were doing something good for me, when in reality it was the opposite. Despite their good intentions, due to the lack of communication their standard and expectations were different to mine, and its a healthy habit to better communicate and get your needs and boundaries across. That said it is also important that they take the initiative and ask for your needs, instead of assuming them all the time, or simply never being bothered to find out. ... View more

I think its definitely important, especially in more serious cases to let a older/ more responsible adult into knowing your problem, and I hope you feel better about not being perfect all the time, and realizing that making mistakes are a good thing as we can learn from them and they are inevitable.   As for your question as to what I do in my spare time is to personally watch Netflix with my GF, talk to her, vent, and even play video games and shut my brain off for a while to take a break. Its really important to find ways to distract ones self in the form of hobbies and entertainment. ... View more

I just want to say thank you for sharing your experiences. I think its important we know how to properly take care of our friends.   I enjoyed reading your response and for the most part I agree. Something you spoke about that I think needs to be highlighted for other people is that approach to helping your friends and accidentally making them feel like a patient / someone broken and in need of fixing.   Its key that people know what things to avoid in order to NOT do this, as like you said it can make the person who needs help feel embarrassed and belittled.This might make them close themselves off to you, and make the situation worse. As while Its good to take care of your friends and provide support, people also need to keep in mind especially in high school and forward that your friends are still adults and don't need to be patronized and treated like a child.   This all ties into why I made this post because its important that we ask others how they want to be helped on top of our own initiative. Thanks for sharing, its definitely something that I want to be more aware of going forward. ... View more