Help How do you cope with feeling like your best self is in the past?

[ToniFoxGirl!!]

I'm 24 and feel very old. I've tried and failed at 2 different passions as a career and my girlfriend dumped me in April. I feel like I was a lot more interesting when pursuing strange careers and passions. And I have a bit of dysphoria, I feel like I was hotter a year ago before I came out to everyone, when I was an HRT femboy, instead of being out as myself as a girl. Do you guys feel like your best days are behind you, and how do you find a way to look towards the future?

 

[carac]

At 46 I definitely feel like my best years, or when I had the most potential, are behind me. I try to to take inspiration from all the older people I encounter who are making the most of what they have. Times change, people change and grow, think of yourself as a catapillar becoming butterfly. You can never go back to that younger you but you can be something new and do the best with what you have.

 

[StolenLife]

I used to feel that I peaked at 12 and that my life is a downward spiral from there. That feeling disappeared when I objectively took a look at my circumstances then and realised that the future brings something new and different. I chose to focus on things that are better than they were in the past. At least now you know that those specific passions don't work for you, so nobody is stopping you from trying out new different things. You are still young enough to start pursuing a new career. Are there any things that you feel are better than last year? If so, focus on them and build yourself up from there, by adding new hobbies. I hope that you are able to find something you love doing and I hope that you are able to get the body that you feel comfortable in.

 

[ToniFoxGirl!!]

I used to feel that I peaked at 12 and that my life is a downward spiral from there. That feeling disappeared when I objectively took a look at my circumstances then and realised that the future brings something new and different. I chose to focus on things that are better than they were in the past. At least now you know that those specific passions don't work for you, so nobody is stopping you from trying out new different things. You are still young enough to start pursuing a new career. Are there any things that you feel are better than last year? If so, focus on them and build yourself up from there, by adding new hobbies. I hope that you are able to find something you love doing and I hope that you are able to get the body that you feel comfortable in.

I was forced to quit those passions, it wasn't that that weren't for me, it's that I was forced out of them for one reason or another. In the last year and half or so, I've started playing guitar but I'm not good at it and I'm not very creative with it like I was in my old passion. And I'm trying to start a new career but nobody seems to want to hire someone with no experience, despite me having qualifications in spite of it. And I doubt I'll ever like the way I look at this point, unless I just get a ton of money for no reason, and even then. Everything about me is just gross.

 

[Celerity]

I have felt like this for many years, but I tried my best to hold onto hope that I could change for the better, and I actually have. I'm sure the change I have experienced could be accomplished in less time with a plan and deliberate focus, but that is very hard to maintain when you are so often depressed. The good news is that age tends to soften our rougher edges. I may not be as pretty or as sharp as I was, but I am kinder, more patient, and have the wisdom not to invest my emotional energy into things and people that are bad for me.