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[quote=Anonymous]My little brother is nearly 30 and I am 34. We are very close and have a good relationship. However, he chose the party life and I chose the career/family life moving through our 20's. Now that we're both in our 30's, he's still the kind of guy that gets up at noon, phone is always turned off (for not paying the bill), bounces between restaurant gigs, doesn't have a car, etc. I have a house, wife, 3 kids, career, retirement, etc. I try to be his brother, but also feel very much like his parent. For context, our parents are not exactly in the picture and when they are, they’re not exactly role models.

He's a very sweet person with a big heart, but he tends to use people for their resources. He has had issues with drugs in the past which is where I think it comes from, but for the past few years he has been relatively clean (i.e. only he drinks or smokes cigs - no hard drugs - so he says). Lately he's been dating a much older woman (divorcee) who buys him things and takes him places, but according to him "he's not that into her", which I find morally f****d up.

Lastly, he's been complaining for years about working in the restaurant business and how he wants a career, but he never makes any progress.  I've offered to help him in anyway I can, from buying him a laptop for online classes, to offering to let him live with us for cheap so he can go back to school.  But it's all for naught. He never takes any help, despite his own stated misery with his life situation.

We caught up a few days ago and when the subject of school came back up, he said he wanted to go to school to "be an architect" or "join the the Air Force".  For a 30 year old bartender who smokes and drinks, with no college experience and no drive, you can see what reality he's living in (and why I'm so frustrated). He acts happy but I know he's hurting on the inside.  I try not to get upset, but I hate to see him poor, miserable, and clueless on how to take control of his life.

So my question: Do I just accept my brother for who he is even with all of his poor choices and morally questionable behavior? Or is my duty as his older brother to try and help him get on a good track?[/quote]

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