Things are pretty good right now, but my husband was out of work for four months. That was rough. Fortunately between savings, frugality and unemployment, we didn’t lose too much. Then he got a job and I got a promotion.

That said, I struggle with other things. Allergies and my weight come to mind. My back and hip have been recovering slowly from an injury for over a year.

The US is a garbage fire right now. I work for an environmental organization. My work (fundraising related) helps me get up in the morning, but we are a global org and it’s great but depressing to see other countries racing ahead of us on their emissions targets. In the US, the news seems more like headlines from The Onion some days.

Interesting thread.
To an outsider my life looks great I have a nice house , finances are good, but :
1.Inside I struggle mightily with self esteem, I rarely post on YLF as I feel that I am not eloquent enough, and that my writing and posts will be of zero interest and contribution.

2. My eldest son is a source of much worry and anxiety he has Aspergers. He got in to major trouble when he was 14 which changed his life and he has never been able to get past it. He is the smartest of my 3 kids, earns very little, has no friends and now has a weight problem which I have nagged him about resulting in us having a poor relationship. My fault. My youngest son got into major trouble at college several years ago and I still worry constantly when he goes out that he will drink too much or someone will spike his drink. Anytime I see his # calling on my my phone I break out in a sweat and my heart races.

3.My husband has worked like a dog our entire marriage and was gone from 4am to 9pm most days. He is now working much less and from home full-time which should be nice right ? I'm finding it very difficult and even got a part time job to be away. He is completely addicted to the computer, it's become the other woman I call her Dell lol. Any time he is the house he is on the computer or watching TV. Now he watches TV and reads on his phone sigh. He doesn't know what to do with himself. We are working on it but I'm angry and lonely. I so looked forward to his semi retirement and spending time together.

4.I shop too much and still don't enjoy much of what I have , it never seems just right when it's in my house or on my body.

5. Iv'e recently got sucked into instagram and began following all sorts of people that are 30 years younger and quite frankly the make up certainly isn't working for me , what's wrong with me !!

Christina, the news is one of the things I have to really take in with moderation and care -- the last two years have been very hard in that regard, and it only seems to get worse. I'm lucky in that my work is a good escape from that, but my heart goes out to all who are facing uphill battles because of assaults on women's rights, the environment, international diplomacy, etc.

Gail, worrying about an adult child is harder than I ever thought possible. My youngest stepson (now 28) has bipolar disorder, and even though he is doing great now (for which we are HUGELY thankful!), we went through some very, very tough years (from ages 19-25) as he struggled to stick with treatment. To call it a roller coaster is an understatement. I'm sorry you are going through those difficulties. Sending you hugs.

Janet, me too. I work at an environmental organization, and though I'm not on the program side, I'm bombarded with news at work all day. Also, they leave CNN on in our cafe, so now I avoid going up there. I at least have the comfort of knowing we're trying to do something about the bad environmental news, and that my org is pretty successful when it helps to push back on bad policies.

Oh no! Hugs to you all and all your family members!
Just found out the job DH was counting on isn't happening. Dream deferred....

Oh, suntiger, damn! I know you were really hoping for that. Sending good vibes for another SoCal opportunity...

He got 5 hours of work-but the guys assistant came back and wanted the hours. Oh well.

I am very late to this thread but I do applaud you for opening up. All of us have some aspects of our life that are not great - and some people have more than their fair share either for a short time or a long time.

We have had our ups and downs with business, family and stress.

And the constant need to be “on” or available and the bombardment of news can be very challenging and exhausting.

My strategies include the following
-breathing exercises
- fitness both in and outside
- alone time and friend time

I need to improve my sleeping and procrastinating.

Another late opener here, but I really liked the thread and the fact that everyone here is so supportive and understanding that sharing goes beyond the topic of fashion.
I am one of those whose life is far from perfect but without realizing it most of the time I try hard to make it look like it is. I’m healthy, I have great husband who’s also the best father for our sweet kids. I have a fantastic job - both interesting, intellectually challenging and paying well - which allows me to feel successful, independent, confident, have a home and support my family. But it takes most of my day, leaves little time for me to spend with my little children and I have the constant feeling that the DH doesn’t really see the point in it (if it’s only about the home and family support he could provide them as well with less work so he can’t understand why I don’t quit and become a SAHM). Most days I feel like I’m running like a mad dog to get everything done and at end I’ve had time for only half of it and no one is satisfied- DH is grumpy that I haven’t got earlier back from work, DD is sad that I’m not paying enough attention to her, at work my efforts had gone mostly unnoticed and to top it off I lie in bed exhausted but unable to fall asleep.
I know what I want to do and what I’m good at but I hold myself back because I don’t feel very confident (no matter how I look on the outside) and fear the criticism. So I do only the “safe” things but that leaves me unsatisfied with my life and craving stupid things like one more “perfect” dress which will finally make me feel confident or special moisturizer to prevent the aging of my face (like it’s really possible).
But I try to do small steps. Maybe can’t wear a dress so often that I dream but I can wear from time to time. Maybe don’t have time to play with my kids every single day for the whole day but will do it whenever possible. Maybe I lack the confidence to do some things now but I can do some small steps to be more confident in the future.
One day I watched a film about Andrea Bocelli. It was telling the story about his life. Everyone agreed that he has amazing voice and talent but was rejected because he’s blind. In his young years he decided to become a lower because he realized that even though everything he wants to do is to sing in the opera no one will let him. He managed to graduate from college despite his blindness but wasn’t happy working in the court. In a series of events the film describes his difficult way from rejection and doubt to the day when Zucchero’s manager called him and proposed him to perform together with the pop star. The day which changed Bocelli’s life.
At the end of the film there are words from Bocelli - that everyone’s life matters and is a piece of art. And the voice of heart and faith shouldn’t be silenced by the reasons of the mind. These words stuck with me as I often doubt the meaning of the things I do in my life yet I find it difficult to cut back even the most mundane tasks and find time or motivation for something bigger and more meaningful. I often worry whether I have done everything I could or whether I have done the right thing. I worry that without perfection my life won’t have enough value. So the idea that the life of every even the most ordinary one of us has an unique value really resonated with my worried heart.
Because I feel that this is the one thing that we all search for, the one thing for which we try to show as perfect and successful to the others - trying to prove the we have a value.
But our true value is not where we have spent our vacation or how toned our tights are. Our true value is our life itself. How we’ve reacted, what choices we have made, what have we shared with the people around us, what has inspired us and have we done with that inspiration. Because all those seemingly small things are like ripples in a lake. They come out of us and stretch to the others, touch them and move them to directions they might not have considered otherwise, inspire them to look from a different angle to their own lives and make them become a ripple for their own circle of people. So seeing and believing in the unique inherent value of our lives regardless of their imperfections, failures or struggles is actually the greatest we can do in our faith and in our efforts to bring value to the others.
This got quite long but I felt really moved by the post of everyone and wanted to share what I felt and thought.

Just saw this-thank you Dreika! Love it