Hi SereneWolf,

I know it must be hard.. but it’s surprising that you still have such a good perspective to look at it. I hope your little issues get better so at least you can move and enjoy even the smaller things in the day. And yes being grateful helps a lot. Not sure if you’re religious, but in our religion they say when nothing works, just pray and be grateful.

Thank you for your support! And yes, I am what they call “spiritual but not religious”… so even if I sometimes lose hope and start getting bitter, I always return to gratitude and realign with my deeper faith. And it does help, it makes a big difference for me.

I am sorry for both of your grandparents passing, specially your grandmother whom you felt so close to 🙁 I am really sorry, SereneWolf. Has she been sick recently?

Good to hear that your father has recovered from TB, and hasn’t been aggressive to anyone. Maybe he is changed by both of his parents dying within a relatively short time, and his own sickness… Perhaps him becoming more meek helps you feel less anger towards him (in addition to having processed your anger via journaling and therapy)?

Also, talking about journaling, I was thinking about the feeling of lack, like a scarcity mindset. Maybe that’s why this fear keeps coming back. Because for many years.. I’ve just been trying to survive instead of actually living. Feeling like I don’t have enough time, finances, and stability in jobs. And maybe that’s why it’s hard for me to have a more abundant mindset.

Right, and the title of your thread reflects that same mindset: “Feeling like time is passing too fast”. Not enough time, or rather, feeling that you are behind in achieving major life goals (specially career and money related), even though you were only 26 when you started the thread…

You were very young (and you still are btw), and you had great achievements behind you. And yet, there was always a feeling that you’re not doing enough, that you’re not good enough. Which is your false core belief. And perhaps it’s still active within you?

And then on top of that come the real-life challenges and the world changing in ways that do lead to more scarcity, specially in your field… and it gets magnified. The belief that “I am not good enough” gets magnified. I think this is what’s happening to you now.

I know it from my own example: having a defeatist, pessimistic mindset from the get-go (largely caused by my upbringing), and then add health challenges and physical limitations to that – and it gets magnified. The sense that “I am doomed” and “I will never make it” gets magnified. And it’s very hard to resist such thinking, because there is so much “evidence” for it…

I mean, in a broader sense, layoffs and all that are already sad and crazy, but even media and people are changing. You see more AI written posts, similar AI images and videos. Like where’s the human made art and content? Bring that back! It actually breaks my heart that a whole generation prefers the easy route, just telling AI what to do and accepting average answers. Like getting some help if it makes your things easier or faster that’s okay but even opinions feel AI generated now. People don’t want to think critically or put in effort. That part worries me more.

This is so well put, SereneWolf. People don’t want to think, they use AI to formulate and even verbalize their opinions. When AI is used for communication – that’s what I find worrying. And as you say, the disappearance of human made art and content – that too is such a loss for humanity.

So yeah, it’s worrying, because as much as AI can be super helpful, it’s a double-edged sword. Specially when fake content is created, e.g. deep fake material used in political campaigns, and you can’t tell anymore what’s true and what is a lie… that’s what I find really concerning. At least AI creators should be obliged to indicate that something is AI generated, and that it be very visible on the video. Anyway, it’s a big problem, and I think it needs more regulation.

Happy to read that you’re getting invited to job interviews! Just remember, you’re one and only. And definitely good enough! 🙂

Hope your plantar fasciitis will resolve over time.. just as a side note: if it needs rest in the acute phase, do rest. Don’t let it turn into a chronic problem! (because trust me, you don’t want anything chronic related to your locomotor system :\ 🙂 )

Hi Tee

Thanks! 😁 Always lovely to talk with you. 🙏

I’m sorry for the late reply. It has been so busy.

I think I will reply to a message you sent on one of my threads, if that’s ok? I was thinking about it for a while and I didn’t want to disturb you after because you said you were working on a project. I don’t want to disturb Serenewolf’s thread.

I’m sorry to hear your mum was like that. It’s not fair for kids to not be allowed to be kids. Everyone deserves to enjoy their childhood. 🩵

It’s okay, I understand what you mean. It’s a complicated topic. You’re right, kids do respond to how the people around them act. 🩵

I think socioeconomic status, gender, communication skills and emotional regulation skills are all factors too.

When I was in primary school all of the boys were fighting in poor areas. Some of them grew out of it by High school some took a bit longer. The girls definitely fought much less. It’s just not seen as socially acceptable for girls to act in these ways, whereas boys are expected to do these things with a boys will be boys attitude. Which causes really big problems if they continue behaviours into adulthood.

For younger kids who don’t have the level of language to support communication. Hitting, biting and such are still fairly common. But it’s only really the biting that hurts. A toddler doesn’t really hit with force. Of course, being tired, teething and hungry are all factors too.

For sure, I agree it’s important to handle these things with love. 😊

My son feels bad when he feels like he’s being told off for something and gets upset even when I’m reassuring him and giving him a hug. It is difficult with toddlers because they are always trying to get into mischief. Sometimes they just don’t want to be told no.

He saw a friend give a dog a light slap because she was sitting in her seat and went around hitting things for days.

Yes, definitely. I agree with you about signs of healthy or unhealthy behaviour. I like to people watch because I feel like if people behave a certain way to others they will behave that way with me. I’m not a fan of drama.

For sure, I think for a long time I’ve struggled with standing up for myself and tolerated things that I’m not comfortable with because they are common behaviours. But being a mum, it’s really important to stand up for your kid. Somehow it’s easier to do that than for myself.

Yes, that’s true. And the other pattern where people apologise and keep repeating the behaviour and never change it. It’s important that people actually try, instead of just talking about it.

Thanks for the enlightening conversation! 🩵

Bonjour SereneWolf:

I posted to you in your other thread some time ago that I looked for the photo of the SERENE WOLF sign in the winery but seemed like I deleted it sometime along the way. I wish I didn’t so that I could somehow post it for you here.

I reread your very first post in tiny buddha (as Addy, remember?). It was on Sept 22, 2022 (age 26) and decided to copy it for my favorite AI (Copilot) and then, I quoted your most recent post of May 8, 2026 (age 30?) Those 2 posts and nothing else, and asked Copilot what stayed the same and what changed.

Copilot: “Across four years, the content of SereneWolf’s life changed — he went from unemployed and hopeless to finally getting the full‑time remote job he dreamed of — but the structure of his inner world stayed almost exactly the same:

“The same self‑doubt, the same fear of failure, the same ‘don’t mess this up’ voice, the same collapse of energy after hope, the same loneliness that surges when stress rises, and the same belief that one rejection or one difficulty predicts the whole future.

“What’s different now is not his emotional pattern but his circumstances: in 2022 he feared he’d never get a job; in 2026 he fears he won’t be able to keep the job.

“In 2022 he doubted his relationship would work; in 2026 he doubts he can feel secure in connection at all. In 2022 he felt hopeless because nothing was happening; in 2026 he feels overwhelmed because something finally did happen.

“The external story changed — the internal voice did not. His negative inner critic simply moved from ‘you’ll never get a job’ to ‘you won’t be able to handle the job,’ proving that the problem was never the job market but the persistent, unhealed pattern inside him.”

What says you, SereneWolf: does Copilot (having been given only 2 of your posts- 3 years, 7 months and 13 days apart, and nothing else)- knows what it’s talking about?

And more importantly, how are you, SereneWolf?

As I read through your posts in this thread earlier today, I was again impressed by how gracious and kind you’ve been all along.. positively special, really. In a way I failed to appreciate at times (because I was more messed up than I am today 😳), and I regret that.

I hope to read back from you, and maybe it’ll be a good thing for you and for me, to reconnect in a healthier, positive, helpful way?

Anita