Hey J,

Yep it is hard especially for us twenty something’s trying to make our way into the real world. Sometimes I am amazed at how my parents made it so well despite their circumstances. The sad reality now is many are in that same state as you and this feeling of jealousy is normal. I feel it too sometimes when I see my old classmates with fancy fat paying jobs or someone off to study in the US with a scholarship etc. Or someone with amazing looks and bodies and job…lol I feel like ugh, why why??? The funny thing is, my best friend feels the same way though in my eyes, she is doing well…I guess that insecurity is just there that oh crap, I am getting older, I gotta figure my shit out, oh my God look everyone is moving ahead except me.

Tell you what, don’t beat yourself up too much. Things will improve but you gotta make a choice or two about what you want to do next – where you want to go or atleast how you can figure out where your interest lies and if it pays enough.

The best way to do that would be to talk to people in that industry, try an entry level job there or observe your friends working there. A number of options are there but you gotta get out of this mindset that you are stuck and this is the end, no, think rather that you are a frog now thrown into milk and you gotta keep moving moving, churning the milk until it turns to something creamy and get out, don’t give up and drown.

And yep, parents, family sometimes give us a hard time. But they love us too at the end of the day and want us to be happy, secure. That’s just her way of expressing it.

You will figure something out eventually.

Yes iat’s hard but not at all impossible.

And you are not alone in feeling this.

https://medium.com/@misonora/im-in-my-twenties-c339f65f3539#.ks567cne4

Dear J,

I do suffer from social anxiety still although i no longer have major depression issues. However, I am finding ways to work on the former through practice, working on self-confidence and relaxation. I think you gotta find ways to deal with the anxiety first. It is debilitating and makes things so difficult.

And regarding teaching, maybe you could try volunteer based teaching in the weekend for 2 hours or go for some one-on-one tuition instead – and then gradually increase the amount you can take. Perhaps baby steps to de-sensitize yourself first in certain situations would be good and it would help the resume too.

I remember starting my journey to cope with anxiety about 3 years ago by writing a list of level 0 to level 10 things that frighten me – level 0 being easiest and level 10 being scariest. So far, i am able to manage level 5 activities. Earlier, i would technically just start at level 7 and mess up, feel bad about messing up and reinforce the negative cycle as a result.

Physical symptoms are a huge part of anxiety. You can also try the relaxing techniques Anita mentions in her post.

Regards,
Nina