Do you ever feel depressed that your life is going nowhere ?

[smokey]

Every once in a while I feel extremely depressed because I spent most of my life hunting for toys and video games in thrifstores and online. Instead of focusing on learning more or getting a better job or going out more with friends.
What do I accomplish by gathering all this stuff around me? It is not that that it doesn't bring me any joy I love all that stuff but still it dos make me feel empty sometimes.I have a youtube channel that goes nowhere and instagram with 10 likes every picture. Why don't I just invest all that time in doing something I love: Namely playing videogames or playing with my son (and or wife ).
Do I really need al this crap piling up in my house? How do you guys handle this feeling

 

[sylvie]

I'm so glad I'm not this much of a fuckup

 

[sylvie]

I sell, give away, or throw away lots of stuff, once per year or so.

Something about me is hardwired to only accept a certain amount of material possessions or else I feel exactly how you feel.

 

[LoneSage]

smokey this is a really great first step. introspection. on what's important. we all only have such a limited amount of time to live. hope you're doing ok bro. hope you figure out what matters most in life.

 

[@M]

Sometimes, but, it's all relative, and everyone's existence ends the same way (death) regardless of how you spend your life. Enjoy what's important to you and try not to judge yourself by what others have, or haven't, accomplished.

In a thread I made a while back, I talked about a dentist I met who spends all his time traveling to 3rd world countries with his wife helping those people for free. My life is shit compared to what he accomplishes, and that depressed me, but, while it might not be as grand, I can and do help people too. It's a little thing, but, outside the post office the other day, I found a letter on the ground somebody dropped, picked it up, brought it inside, and mailed it for them. Doesn't make me a hero, but, it's SOMETHING, dammit! Do something nice like that for others once a day.

EDIT: On the other hand, what if that letter was somebody writing that they wanted to break up or get a divorce, and they had a change of heart and decided not to mail it and then I ruined their life by finding it and doing so, what then?

 

[Burning Fight!!]

edit: ok I reread your post and I think maybe you should just forcefully eject gaming for your life at least this once. See RAZO's post.

 

[RAZO]

It's never too late to pick things up. Look at Sage. The best thing that could of happened in his life was his mom selling off all his shit. All these years later he has become a successful English teacher in China, has a ton of friends, and now is thinking about getting married. He sure has come a long way. If he was focused on buying and playing videogames, he would probably still be stuck in his mom's basement.

 

[RAZO]

Everything in moderation. If you feel depressed about all the crap around you, just let it go. Letting stuff go is excellent therapy. Only things you should become attatched to are family and friends.

 

[NeoSneth]

you handle this by making better decisions. The vast majority of this forum collected plastic at one point. I'm sure most of us still do. There was certainly a turning point for me when I realized this stuff was becoming a burden more than anything. You can rationalize your hoard endlessly to justify its existence, but in the end it's just a giant pile of burden. I had some family members pass away, and that is when I realized how quickly collections become a burden. It's why all the good deals are at estate sales. People just need it gone to move on with their own lives.

It will be years before I can downsize to a reasonable amount. I have been doing it for years already. No regrets.

I still enjoy watching collectors on youtube, but you'll notice the majority of them have no accomplishments outside their subscriber count. Note, the ones that do have a real life often have the better content as well.

 

[2D_mastur]

I was gonna say " Go out and get laid"...

But then I saw you are married.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

I still enjoy watching collectors on youtube, but you'll notice the majority of them have no accomplishments outside their subscriber count. Note, the ones that do have a real life often have the better content as well.

It's always good to remember LukeMorse getting a divorce and losing custody of his child over hoarding videogames, which is even sadder when you go back and see his "tour" of the tiny ass rooms full of piled up unorganized junk he had and displayed proudly on youtube.

 

[Mai_Lover]

Family is most important to me. FUCK the rest of the world. I used to be optimistic and truly believe that everything will work out in the end, like some naive little shit. Once out of college, with mounds of debt and no jobs around (I ain't relocating outta state) reality finally set in. The American Dream is dead. Loooong gone. As long as we have a Republican party, nothing, and I mean NOTHING will get better in the States.
No one can make a living on their own. Those days are ancient history. Trickle-down economics has never worked. Ever. The only chance us poor folk have of having some sort of life worth attaining and living is to finally tax the shit out of the millionaire class and big business.
Give us a fucking chance to get well paying jobs and some semblance of a future, and then there will be MUCH less crime and famine.
The sad, pathetic truth is that half the country is just fine with the status quo. Prove me wrong.
What America needs is a bonafide three party system so that we're not just forced to pick the lesser of two evils.
This goddam pandemic has ripped us apart and exposed to the world the cancer that infests us. There's no wonder why people like us hoard shit just to give us a moment's reprieve from the agony of life. Everyone here has some sort of mental illness, me included, that's why we spend our time throwing insults at each other here instead of having real joy in life. The minute someone here tries to tell me otherwise is absolutely lying to my face.
Real money has to be invested in health care and mental illness. All other developed nations have universal health care and months of paid leave. We're the only nation that works its people to death just to reward the rich. I'm done trynna run around like a river rat just to get by.
Like LonelySage said, find your priority in life and stick to it. We all gonna die. The spectre of death keeps us motivated but for only so long.

 

[Gremlin]

Does it depress you for internal or external reasons? You shouldn't dictate your life around what you think society would think of your life. If you think you're a failure because you feel others look down on what you enjoy, then you really shouldn't let some arbitrary barometer for "success" or "value" dictate how you live your life. Life's too short to not enjoy it in whichever way you want to, if it's not affecting anyone else. But if there's an internal feeling of emptiness and you feel like you're not getting anything out of it, then purge. Speaking from experience, it's hard to let go of material things you get attached to but it is pretty liberating to offload it and you quickly realize it wasn't that important when it's gone. You can always get more "things", stuff isn't going anywhere.

Being "driven" is a burden. It's a constant sense of failure with no real end goal. If you feel like you need a purpose, devote spare time to a "productive" hobby, like a craft or a skill. Videogames are fun, but they're just entertainment - stuff like learning an instrument, making model kits or getting into woodworking builds skills that actually physically manifest in something and I feel like it's healthy for everyone to have something in their life that isn't just consumption. Think of it this way: if you could never upload your YouTube or Instagram photos, would you still make them? If not, then you probably aren't making them for the right reasons, especially if you don't enjoy the process.

Most of all, play with your son as much as possible. Make time for your family and be the best husband and father possible. That's the single most productive thing you can do. If you're doing that, then your life isn't going nowhere.

 

[sylvie]

just donate your body to pseudo-science like i did

 

[Taiso]

Don't look at it as pointless and don't look at it as 'crap piling up.' This feeling leads to self resentment and an insurmountable sense of personal failure and over collecting isn't really either of those things.

Dependency? Yes. Obsessive behavior? Absolutely.

Neither of these things are justification for beating yourself up.

Look at it all as a part of your personal growth. This all may have worked for you at one point but just isn't right now. Now pivot to things you feel are a better use of your time and energy.

It's not like you look at the collection of hobby material goods as a complete waste and are suddenly nihilistic about everything. You are saying you want to play video games and spend time with your family.

Those sound like good things to focus on.

Turn your personality traits towards the things and people you want to fixate on now and draw strength from it.

I've been there. The emotional burden can pin you in place and keep you from moving. Take all that downward momentum and redirect it so it is pulling you along rather than grinding you down.

Good luck.

 

[NeoSneth]

Family is most important to me. FUCK the rest of the world. I used to be optimistic and truly believe that everything will work out in the end, like some naive little shit. Once out of college, with mounds of debt and no jobs around (I ain't relocating outta state) reality finally set in. The American Dream is dead. Loooong gone. As long as we have a Republican party, nothing, and I mean NOTHING will get better in the States.
No one can make a living on their own. Those days are ancient history. Trickle-down economics has never worked. Ever. The only chance us poor folk have of having some sort of life worth attaining and living is to finally tax the shit out of the millionaire class and big business.
Give us a fucking chance to get well paying jobs and some semblance of a future, and then there will be MUCH less crime and famine.
The sad, pathetic truth is that half the country is just fine with the status quo. Prove me wrong.
What America needs is a bonafide three party system so that we're not just forced to pick the lesser of two evils.
This goddam pandemic has ripped us apart and exposed to the world the cancer that infests us. There's no wonder why people like us hoard shit just to give us a moment's reprieve from the agony of life. Everyone here has some sort of mental illness, me included, that's why we spend our time throwing insults at each other here instead of having real joy in life. The minute someone here tries to tell me otherwise is absolutely lying to my face.
Real money has to be invested in health care and mental illness. All other developed nations have universal health care and months of paid leave. We're the only nation that works its people to death just to reward the rich. I'm done trynna run around like a river rat just to get by.
Like LonelySage said, find your priority in life and stick to it. We all gonna die. The spectre of death keeps us motivated but for only so long.

You start off by admitting you are part of the problem, then you shift all blame to the government.

 

[racecar]

Yolo... sell off everything you don’t need and use the money to make some improvements in your and family’s lives . Vacation

 

[wyo]

smokey this is a really great first step. introspection. on what's important. we all only have such a limited amount of time to live. hope you're doing ok bro. hope you figure out what matters most in life.

Spoiler:

I think most people feel a drive, especially early in life, to go out and acquire as much as possible. Hoarding is a natural human tendency, whether it's wealth, power, resources, or in this case video game faggotry. Almost everyone here has collected something at some point. Eventually, most people realize buying endless crap, whether it's games or even expensive things like cars and houses, will not make them happy beyond the thrill of the hunt and the initial endorphin rush at the time of acquisition.

As Lonesage stated, you've made the important first step. Incidentally, it's the same first step addicts have to make when they enter treatment. Now you've realized you have a problem, I would say step 2 is stop buying more stuff until you figure out a plan of action. Maybe you will decide you don't have a problem after all and continue on this path. Maybe you will sell or give away everything as quickly as possible. Most likely, you will choose to do something in between these two extremes. Nobody can tell you what to do other than to think carefully, plan, follow through, and hopefully make a positive change in your life.

 

[norton9478]

Yolo... sell off everything you don’t need and use the money to make some improvements in your and family’s lives . Vacation

this is so true.

I have never gotten buyers remorse from going on vacation.

 

[Lagduf]

Purge.

Sell it off, give it away, or frankly, throw it away.

Seriously. Doesn’t matter what it is or how rare it is. Get rid of it.

Past couple years I get a dumpster for my house for a couple weeks. Throw everything away.

I still have hobbies but I’m being more selective with purchases. Definitely saving a lot more money.

 

[Lagduf]

this is so true.

I have never gotten buyers remorse from going on vacation.

Damn, you’re right.

 

[max 330 mega]

Purge.

Sell it off, give it away, or frankly, throw it away.

Seriously. Doesn’t matter what it is or how rare it is. Get rid of it.

Past couple years I get a dumpster for my house for a couple weeks. Throw everything away.

I still have hobbies but I’m being more selective with purchases. Definitely saving a lot more money.

Umm. How about donating instead of filling our landfills further?

 

[Lagduf]

Umm. How about donating instead of filling our landfills further?

Sometimes for ones own mental health we must remove the items immediately.

No one wants my made-in-China garbage anyway.

Edit: Where I live in CA we only have a single trash bin, we don’t have municipal recycling because all garbage is sorted.

Someone’s job is literally to sort through waste. Huge ass factory, it’s wild. Pays well from my understanding.

 

[max 330 mega]

Sometimes for ones own mental health we must remove the items immediately.

No one wants my made-in-China garbage anyway.

Edit: Where I live in CA we only have a single trash bin, we don’t have municipal recycling because all garbage is sorted.

Someone’s job is literally to sort through waste. Huge ass factory, it’s wild. Pays well from my understanding.

Thats totally different than backwards ass Virginia, pretty neat!

 

[ShaolinAce]

Not for a long time. Maybe 10 years ago I kinda grew up since then.