49 and lost. Managed to support a family for several years but mentally it was like riding a tiger a lot of the time. Alternating periods of employment, and then unemployment following either layoff, termination for poor productivity in burnout, or quitting in the throes of meltdown, with all the scrambling each transition in and out of employment and health insurance demands... I'm literally burned out on burnout itself at this point... and all the misbehavior on my part trying to cope with all these boom/bust success/failure cycles... eventually my first wife gave up on me just like so many employers, friends, and family over the years, and filed for divorce, because just what I needed at that point was another emotional tailspin... over and over it seems like I need and cry out for help and instead get "I'm done, go fix yourself." And at this point I'm finally acknowledging I can't do this all on my own but that on its own doesn't magically figure out or materialize what exact help I need, which I can't even claim to know let alone explain. I'm starting to give up on the idea of being self supporting but having no idea what there is to fall back on or how.
BIG fan of this!
49 and lost. Managed to support a family for several years but mentally it was like riding a tiger a lot of the time. Alternating periods of employment, and then unemployment following either layoff, termination for poor productivity in burnout, or quitting in the throes of meltdown, with all the scrambling each transition in and out of employment and health insurance demands... I'm literally burned out on burnout itself at this point... and all the misbehavior on my part trying to cope with all these boom/bust success/failure cycles... eventually my first wife gave up on me just like so many employers, friends, and family over the years, and filed for divorce, because just what I needed at that point was another emotional tailspin... over and over it seems like I need and cry out for help and instead get "I'm done, go fix yourself." And at this point I'm finally acknowledging I can't do this all on my own but that on its own doesn't magically figure out or materialize what exact help I need, which I can't even claim to know let alone explain. I'm starting to give up on the idea of being self supporting but having no idea what there is to fall back on or how.
It's easy to think I'm doing ok until I realize I too am unemployed and still living at home (in my late 20's).
In my mid-forties and floundering. This was so helpful to read, thank you!