At what age did you realize that the world is a big dissappointment?

Question

I realized this in my late teens. I realized that people don't always change when they grow up, you will be faced with more difficulties, sometimes it can get worse, things get even more complicated. There are constant battles. When we were smaller we had an image of what the world would be like when we grew up. I imagined that I would be happy and strong. My perspective of the world would change. Life goes in circles it seems. Foggy, muddy, troublesome. Free will, huh?

Answer 1

You can be happy & strong.
It's quantum physics.
Just say "I am happy & strong." Keep saying it. Keep thinking it. Meditate it. Keep doing it until it's habit. Then you start believing it & once you do you attract happiness & strength. We are often our own worst enemy. The things you believe come to pass. If you expect the negative & behave in self-defeating ways then you attract "bad luck". If you are positive & act in life-affirming self-fulfilling ways, you attract good things. It worked for me. I was very negative but I'm learning to be positive & it's paid off.

It takes a lot of work but don't be discouraged. Start small.
Ok, right now, smile. Force your lips upward into a grin, a big smile, teeth & all. Stay that way. It will feel unnatural & stupid but after a minute (maybe even 30 seconds) you actually start to feel a bit better. You can fool your mind into thinking you're happy. Your mind takes cues from the body so if you walk around frowning or pouting, then guess what it thinks? Don't underestimate the physical body. Eat right, exercise & get enough rest. This alone will make you feel better. Most people eat garbage, don't exercise & barely get any sleep. Is it any wonder then that they feel like crap? You know the expression you are what you eat? Well you are also what you do and how you treat yourself. I heard a quote years ago that I really liked: "Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong." You are a beautiful miracle of nature. Take better care of yourself. Once you feel loved & cherished by you it's easier to be happy. There are scores of positive thinking self-help books out there: Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil, Dale Carnegie, Wayne Dyer just to mention a few. They all say the same things. Thoughts are powerful they can change your life. You can learn to change thinking patterns but it takes work. I promise you it's worth it.

Life is only a disappointment if you see it that way. Maybe you are just too hard on yourself. Maybe you're abusing yourself with "shoulds" & feeling inadequate. Life can be beautiful. You just have to focus on the beauty. Get close to nature. Take walks. Nothing is more peaceful to me than being among the trees or by the water. Enjoy hobbies. There must be something you like to do. Do it! Go after your dreams. Live with passion. Growing up doesn't have to mean giving up. Bring back your childlike sense of wonder. Find the humour in things. Laugh. Be silly. Appreciate the little things.

You can clear the fog. You can escape your troubles. The only obstacle is you.

Good luck.
You are not alone. Most of us have been there. There is a way out. Start small. Just smile! That's an order!

:)
Peace out.

Answer 2

I have always like highly creative things such as Disney and Tim Burton films, Kate Bush, Tori Amos and bands such as R.E.M. and Radiohead. I have spent nearly 25 years playing videogames.

I still don't know why so few people can talk authoritavely on popular culture such as this. Left wing university dons can spend years researching the inside of a bat but they don't have an in depth knowledge of the important artistic achievements in the popular culture of the 20th century, let alone the 21st. This is very disappointing to me. If the top universities don't care about this why should anyone else?
They need to learn that entertainment is not just a distraction of no consequence- it's part of the tapestry of artistic achievement through the ages.

So that is a disappointment because it's all very well that academics have a knowledge of the classics but they should also be at the cutting edge. If the most supposedly learned people in the country, on substantial wages, don't try then why should a disaffected 15 year old?

I am disappointed that Britain has turned its history into a chocolate box pastiche of itself for bus trips to enjoy, rather than also embracing the best of modern Britain as well.

British TV seems polarised between tweeness and ultra-violence. There is little representation of the creativity of modern Britons.

I don't know what soldiers who gave their lives in World War 1 or 2 would say about the dependency culture in Britain where someone who trips on a paving slab through their own incompetence can get more compensation than the families of someone who is killed or a country where people routinely end up with more infections as a consequence of going into hospital than when they came out as a result of inadequate cleanliness.

Answer 3

Yes, life contains constant battles and the world is unknown, challenging and out of our control. A child expects life to be simple, and that one day they will be a happy and strong adult, but life is too complicated for that. No one is fully happy and strong, even the most perfect people have doubts, secrets. I don't think this is so bad though.. Life is hard but it is worth living, and this world is the only one we're ever going to get.

I wouldn't say the world is a disappointment, just harder than expected.

Answer 4

Life is changing every day. Even if you see it or not. Times get good times get bad. One thing to remember is there is always someone that is in a worse situation than you are. In your eyes you might think your life sucks. But what about the millions of starving children in africa that don't have as much or nothing at all. They smile and charrish the little they have. They don't know how it is to sleep in a bed, eat a piece of toast, drink fresh clean spring water. Always remember there is someone in the world that is worse off than you. Life is way to short to be thinking about stupid things that don't make any sense. Do things you want to do? do things you never thought you would do? I have done so many things I never thought in a million years I would.

Answer 5

I only think that way when Im feeling a bit down....Have you noticed when things are going okay, possibly even GREAT, we tend to forget about the "dissapointments" in life? Thats because life is how you live it. If you choose to stay down, your gonna see the world as a dissapointment. Just take risks, have fun, make mistakes (Yeah I sound like the magic school bus teacher, but she was right!) And your going to end up making mistakes and dealing with them and as you grow, you are forced to face the world head on and your not always going to like what you see (Im 18 and just about to "start my life" and Im sure my whole positive outlook on life isnt always going to stick) but ya know, this world is just a place we live for a limited amount of time. when we think too much, we notice all the little negative things about it, you know? (sorry i wrote so much)

Answer 6

I remember thinking at 3 that something was terribly wrong, but i wasn't sure exactly what. Sometime later i came to think that "coming here" was a big mistake.

The truth is it has taken me decades to get over this "approach". But, for the sake of your health, sanity and general well being and "consciousness growth" it is best to overcome this mindset. A broader, wiser perspective must be undertaken.

To save you years of discomfort, i would recommend a lot of meditation, a study of Eastern psychology/metaphysics, especially Daoism and Esoteric Buddhism, and regular exercise. Also, check out http://www.sahajayoga.com for help with quieting your mind; and read: *The Complete Idiot's Guide to Toltec Wisdom*.

If i had been aware of these (basic?) "tools" at your age i would have "saved" myself many years of needless aggravation.

Best of luck :))

Answer 7

i totally agree with the things you said. I realize this right now, at 16. I thought that by coming to a new country we would all be happier but now i see that we have more trouble, things are falling apart and we need to give in all we can to be successful. I never wanted to grow up and now that i am sometimes it feels really frustrating.... i'm wishing for it all to be over soon when looking in the past i didn't wanted to grow up, so i did and now i dont want to be in this phase but i know i have no choice.... it's tough but we'll get by somehow.. it's life..

Answer 8

i think the children of the baby boomer generation were raised with especially high and false hopes....parents,school and television always telling us "you can be anything you want"....most of us with brains know that is just not true....all that silly crap that they taught in school about self-validation, self-affirmation and all this self-obsession bullcrap has set entire generations of kids up for nothing but disappointment in an overpopulated world where they feel like nothing but an expendable work drones....theres is a severe idol worshipping mentality among us and the children of baby boomers are the most disappointed and let down people ever...needless to say....i think most of us come into contact with this great disappointment in our teen years

Answer 9

My 30s....

No one to pay the bills which threatened to be cut off at 10 day intervals.....

Job wasn't paying enough to stay on top of it.....

gave up my income tax check to put down payment on a crappy house that burnt down 6 months later......

Never got downpayment back, and I spent 9 years overpaying monthly on this house because the lanlord sent her brother to collect the money. Which he was taking money that wasn't supposed to go to him....

Took 3 jobs to make ends meet for me and the kids I seldom seen.... 1 full time... 2 part-time....

my 30s..... harsh living.....


your sister,
Ginger

Answer 10

i found out how horrible life is last year at the age of 13. i discovered that even though you work your butt off for something you still end up failing in the end. when your dreams all crash what does a person have left? after all dreams and hopes are all a person can have.