I was reading through this: http://ift.tt/2mZbXtP and am just really down on myself. In high school I was one of those advanced studies kids, on the college path, but when I eventually went to college, I was so enamored of my freedom from my over protective parents, I just partied and blew off school work.
I eventually pieced together an overpriced associate's degree in general studies from one of those career schools you can go to online, leaving me 60k in student loan debt (because I abused the student loans to pay for life expenses).
At 19 I joined the National Guard and gained medical experience, so for most of my life I worked in the medical field, either clinically or administratively (office work). Now I work from home doing search engine evaluation and other gigs on the side - I like the work I do - but there is no room for income growth in this particular field. It is very flexible though - I set my own hours.
At 25, I made a dumb mistake and was convicted of felony grand larceny. So that will always be on my record.
Sadly, I'm in my 40's now, still making under 20/hr. I read through these posts and see people making over 100k/year, and know that at one point, I truly had the intelligence and drive to do that. I'm great at DIY learning just about anything I want.
However, I'm a single mom now and maxed out on student loan debt (I can't borrow more to go back to school).
I feel trapped by my circumstances. I do OK, we make ends meet and I even have a plan to start saving asap. However, I'm really hating myself for not knowing what I wanted to do (and still don't have a clue) and making a solid income from the start - especially since I know I have the brains to do so.
Is it possible to turn this around? I can't afford to go back to school. My background will always be there. Or should I just keep plugging along and be grateful for having what I have?
Side note: my child is still young and I'm the only parent he has. It's not feasible for me to work 2 full time jobs and let him be raised by strangers. Again, we make do on my one income - I'm not saying we don't have enough. The point of this post is just that I had so much more potential and blew it, now over 20 years later, I'm realizing just how badly I blew it and really hating myself. :-( Thanks for listening and sorry for the negativity of it all.
ETA: While I'm throwing all my dirty laundry out here, I'm also clinically depressed (I do take medicine for this) and overweight and just drained. And you know how people always ask: "What are you passionate about" when determining a career? My answer is nothing. Not a damn thing. Over 40 years and I've found nothing to be passionate about. I know all of these things are linked, so I thought I'd share.
Submitted March 08, 2017 at 12:46PM by vintagephone http://ift.tt/2m2V90N
