Can you easily face another 30-40(more depending on your age)years of life without feeling overwhelmed and depressed at days that just drag on?

I was doing fine until I saw your question and really thought about it.~

I’m sorry that you’re fighting despair, especially if that’s a full-time thing. But maybe part of the thing is, as with any big and overwhelming project, break it down into smaller and more manageable chunks. “Get through today”, then “get through this month”, then “get through this season”, and so forth.

Of course, that would be just like doing a prison stretch, I suppose (not that I would know!) unless you were doing something else, even just watching someone else or some thing else grow or mature at the same time.

What do you do to pass the time when you’re not busy full-time despairing? (I’m not trying to make light of your feeling, but there must be something keeping you busy, right?)

I have felt that way at times in the past two years and told myself that if they didn’t improve in the next five years….....But they have! I have great friends, stimulating activities, a dog, a nice home and it looks like my money will be enough. I still have sad times and miss my old family life but things are just great. I’ve pretty much rebuilt myself from the ground up.

I wish you could build more joy into your life, @ZEPHYRA . Do you have a good therapist?

Yes. Every day is a new opportunity to do something different. Every day is a day I can open up a new book, meet a new person, drive down a different road.

I have, probably, 30 more years year to live, and I look optimistically forward to every day.

You are not the only one at all. If someone offered me a pill to go right now, then I would grab their hand off. I do not want another 30 or 40 years. I contact Dignitas every 6 months to ask if they have been given the right to help the mentally ill.

Heck I’ve lived twice as long as I expected to. I’ll take each day as it comes. The laugh of a child, the kiss of a puppy, the beauty of a newborn fawn. Nah, I’m going for a bit more.

I don’t think I have another 30 years. As a result life is very precious to me. There are friends and outings with same, places in nature to see, travel to new places.

It sounds as though you might be clinically depressed. Seek treatment. You don’t have to feel that way.

Yup. I got right with Shiva and now all is good. Last year at this time, though, I would have said no.

Understanding that the point of existence is to suffer and transcend it is a helpful place to start.

I have struggles with it on occasion but for the most part, I’m with @serenade‘s philosophy. It’s a fact of life that we suffer, we just have to deal with it the best we can and try to be a positive agent in the world.

It’s not he same day after day, not in he least. every day is new in its own way, even if it’s just a small change in the weather.

I have been walking at my local reservoir for about five years now, lately I’ve been running there 5 or 6 times a week. It struck me earlier this year that it is different every time I go there, and now I look forward to what is different: different angle of light, different temperatures, new or old leaves on the trees, smooth waters or rough, and alwys teh birds behaving differently.

So 40 years would put me at close towards turning 100. I plan on doing my best at staying active and healthy. My grandfather made it to 97 and my mom (his daughter) is turning 90 this year. Stay engaged with the world, it helps you live a long life!

“Years of the same thing day in day out and who knows what else.”

Listen to me @ZEPHYRA. I know how you feel. I’ve felt that way, and sometimes still do.

But I’ve come to understand something that changed it all. You can understand it too if you will allow yourself.

In a nutshell… I’m depressed when I awaken to any day without a plan. But if I’ve set a plan for a day, then I’m excited about it.

Going through life without planning ahead is like spending the energy to tread water but go nowhere. It gets tiring and sometimes you just want to sink.

Going through life with a plan is like swimming to a destination. You don’t want to sink because you’re actually busy going somewhere.

FYI… It’s freaking hard to make plans and stick with them. Count on making many plans and then beating yourself up mentally for not pursuing them, or accomplishing them. It’s a tough mindset to get into. It will teach you how to deal with failure, no doubt.

But do it enough, with little tiny plans, and you will learn how to appreciate small accomplishments, and not feel guilty about those left undone.

Literally, take a pen and paper out and plan one activity for tomorrow. “Go to the store and try a new ice cream brand and flavor”. DONE! Now go and accomplish that. It will be harder than you think.

The goal is to develop enough planning value that you can say, “Drive South for a weekend alone in a different town”. Ok so that’s going to take some money. So do the math, and plan out saving $10 per week for the next four months. Your enthusiasm will grow as your piggy bank fills to $200 to pay for gas and an overnight. Your sense of accomplishment will flower, and that will drive future enthusiasm.

Could be anything… Have you thought about getting your hands muddy and trying to spin some pottery? Plan out a course of action that allows you to do this. It is calming, creative, and very rewarding… Not the pottery… The accomplishment of a plan.

To get you motivated, consider The Artist’s Way. This woman can help you change your life. It’s incredible. The book will teach you to enjoy planning an Artist Date with yourself. The concepts taught by Julia may have saved my life. Order the book, and check out her blog.

Plan on it. Without a plan, you may be suffering becoming a part of someone else’s plan. Plan your own life darling.

I’m really looking forward to my next 30 years and my 100th birthday. I hope to see some great-grandkids in my life. In the meantime, I love watching my littlest grandsons grow up.

On the various times in my life when I was severely depressed, I was lucky enough to have my family there for me, and they helped me get through it.

BTW @ZEPHYRA… I think you have the most beautiful avatar on fluther. That image tells great things about your spirit. Perhaps you would have a talent for doing floral photography yourself? Digicams are cheap these days, and maybe your phone even has a decent camera. Might be time for an Artist Date with yourself and the local botanical garden.

I’ve been there. It’s absolute hell. There was a time in my life when I couldn’t get off the couch. Just the thought of something as simple as showering was more than I could handle.
I took medication, Prozac and Klonopin. Luckily they helped me because I was in a really bad place. My family took turns babysitting me because they were afraid I’d hurt myself if I was left to my own devices.
I got better with the help of my wonder family, a good therapist, and medication.
I still have days where I feel very anxious and depressed, but I also have good days when I realize that life is worth living, even if its painful at times.

My hope for you @ZEPHYRA is that you can somehow find the same balance in your life.

((((Hugs))))

As long as I have a comfortable bed and good food and lemon squares, and name brand pop and Fluther and TV then I am almost fine. Also I need a Teen burger once a week and company who doesn’t overstay their welcome, and some kind of academic improvement and I will be as happy as a pig in cool mud, and maybe a girlfriend and a BFF and profit every month to put into savings then things would be better. I also need my mom and someone to look after me when I go into sleep mode every so often like Odin when he goes to sleep every so often (Odin sleep).

All the time. And I don’t want to be older than 80.

I look forward to the future that I get to spend with my family. I’m grateful for what little I have and I take each day as it comes by living in the moment.

I need to be more like @jonsblond.
What a perfect way to look at life! Great answer.