Reply to Daughter (16) saying that life is boring, has no purpose, is work

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My 20 year has been saying this for at least 3 years. [b]We have a good life, but he sees us a working nonstop to maintain it with little time for anything truly pleasurable in between. [/b]Can’t blame him, from the time kids his age starts kindergarten we start apply pressure to prepare them to deal with a competitive work world. And social media has speed up the growing up process, robbing them of their innocence. Is it any wonder that they feel unmotivated by life [/quote]

I grew up watching my parents go through this. They worked in high-paying but soul-sucking corporate jobs for 35+ years. I remember my dad having panic attacks in the middle of the night over having to go to work the next day. He would often come home and take his stress out on everyone else. I remember my mom crying hysterically and getting physically ill over work stress. She sometimes would work 18 hour days and would often not even have time to watch 30 minutes of TV with me at night. In their minimal spare time, they would work on the house and yard to make sure that everything looked perfect. Although they are both retired now, sadly they can't even enjoy retirement because my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer back in 2018 at age 58. My dad spends most of his time bringing her to appointments and taking care of the house, because my mom goes crazy and yells if anything is out of sorts in the slightest. You would think that having cancer would have taught her not to sweat the small stuff, but it only made her compulsiveness worse.

Seeing their behavior led me to realize from the time I was your DD's age that my goal was not going to be material wealth and a high-status career but to be happy. [b]My teaching job will never pay as much as their jobs did or have as much prestige, but at least I don't dread going to work and am helping people. [/b]Life is too short for a rat race and obsessing with perfection. My mom's illness has made me realize that even more. There's an increased chance I could get the same kind of cancer as her. My life may already be half over. Therefore, I sure as hell am not going to waste it in a job I hate and am only in for the money. [/quote]

Interesting. When you mentioned that your mom sometimes worked 18 hours a day, I figured she must be a teacher. I’m a teacher and feel like your parents experience sounds similar to mine - except I don’t have the high income. [/quote]

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