Describe a time in your life when you thought: "something needs to change before I suffocate."
Ending a marriage. Just economically bad, he could not keep a job.
I came in with good credit his was awful. He was awful. I had to bail him out of jail about 3 times.
He ran cars after check engine light would go on and literally junked about 10 cars in the 8 we were together.
At the end he was wanting me to work 60-80 hours a week so he could...go back to school. Oh and cover him on my health insurance.
Enough.
I went on Craig one evening and found a room for rent within a little over mile from work.
I already had a bike.
I moved out within about a week.
I biked to work for about 3 years before my credit recovered to the point that it was good again and I went to the Toyota dealership and got my sweet little 5-Speed.
Towards the end of my 15 year relationship - I suddenly realized NO matter WHAT I did he would NEVER be happy with me. I changed my attitude and he left! It was a good thing.
That was in the past. Continually since the 2016 election.
2 of my marriages was bad. One wife hid anxiety from me until she could no longer hide it. I spent some 13 years baby sitting an introvert.
The other wanted me to watch and raise her child which I did and enjoyed raising the child. She had adult sons that failed to launch so ended up baby sitting them too.
All that wasn't bad but somewhere I lost a large part of me which wasn't part of the deal.
High school
I knew I had to make it to graduation. 4 years of suffering. But what saved me is that by keeping my grades up I was able to take a course the last 2 years that permitted me to leave school at the half & go to work for credit. Although no veternarian would hire me, I did end up working for the telephone company as an operator. The minimum wage was $.75 an hour at that time & I was making &1.25 to start. Then there was paid vacation etc. But that too was suffocating so I baile in 1972 & went traveling to Israel, France, Greece, Italy, Switzerland & England. Traveling is not suffocating at all. Just pick up & go.
Oh... that's pretty much every single day. My whole life has been a case of running as hard as I can up a slippery slope which has a moat filled with crocodiles at the bottom. At this point, my goal is to die before I slip to the bottom of that moat and those crocks get the satisfaction of eating me alive.
First hubby's hands were around my throat & things were going black? No, actually before that......
Every winter in Duluth (Oct to May) until a few years ago. It felt like the heat death of the universe and was really bad for my mental health. Two friends and I moved to WA state and share an apartment. The weather here is fantastic, but now I'm squashed under financial problems. They can't get hired and I'm disabled and we're all living on my income, which isn't meant to support three people. Everyone tells me to cut them off but I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I've been broke and unemployable and I wouldn't wish that on people I care about.
That was a lot of blither. ._.
My first relationship, in fact, all of them. all the drugs and drink and smoking too. a lot of shit jobs .
Told a supervisor to eat a dick and walked out.
My divorce. Even after 3 years of marriage counseling and no change, I could not imagine living the second half of my life in stagnation. Divorce became essential to my emotional well-being.
Yes, that was my moment too. After 29 years of marriage to an abusive spouse, at 51 years old, I figured if I live to be 102, this is my mid-point, and I do NOT want to continue my life this way for another 51 years. So, I made a change, and have been breathing a whole lot easier ever since! I'm alive and own my own life.
@ReturnAgain, walking away after so many years is very hard, but so worth it. The first year was difficult, but after that I have had the most amazing experiences and I am now able to live the life I have always wanted.
Just before I sold everything and moved to Thailand in 2010.
I grew up in a small, rural community in Eastern Colorado. My senior year was a mixture of fear of leaving something I'd always known but certainty of knowing that if I didn't a big part of me was going to stagnate and not reach any sort of potential. I felt a very strong urge to escape.
I did. I wanted something very different from the isolation of the flat plains so I moved to Leadville, Co at 10,000 ft elevation and attended a small community college. Still not a lot of people but they came from all over the US and the world. It was very eye opening. I went from there to a university to complete a BA in English literature and on to my career in software development.
YES. Sometimes i take on way too much and I see no end in sight. From what i have read, there is no such thing as 'multi-tasking.' If we try to take on more than is possible, then whatever else that needs attention suffers.