What's Happening In Your Life?

[New Kid In Town]

Dreamer - I hope the blue light blockers work for you. I also suffer from dry eye due to my wearing contacts for so many years. I have used Restasis in the past and it worked really well for me. My eyes started feeling better in less than six months. I have not used it recently as it is not covered by my prescription plan and is very expensive. I also suffer from light sensitivity and wear my sun glasses outside even on cloudy days. I hope both problems improve for you.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Thanks NKIT - I have been using the Restasis for almost 3 months now and have noticed some slight improvement, but it's definitely not the results I'm hoping for. It is really expensive. I even changed my prescription drug plan this year to get a lower price so I only have to pay $42.00 for a month's supply. In reality though, the 30-day supply lasts 60 days so that's a huge difference than the $600+ that I'd have to pay without the new plan. My doctor says I may end up having to have surgery for the light sensitivity if this doesn't help.

[Elle81]

Life update: Hey y'all! Haven't been on here in a hot minute, so I thought I'd give everyone an update on the dumpster fire that is my life.

I have less than two weeks left before our lease is up. My roommates, a trio from the fiery pits of the underworld, were able to secure themselves an apartment. I, on the other hand have not. I have been filling out application after application, but to no avail. My only way out of possible homelessness is another roommate situation. But I guess that's better than sleeping on a curb. This housing situation is nobody's fault but mine, as I should have done all these applications last year after I found out about the eviction. So there are times when I feel like I'm in quicksand.

On the job front, things are actually going quite well. I am working a lot and have made some great work buddies. One even has helped me sign up for a program that helps low income non-elderly disabled people find places to live, so that's good.

I did my taxes this year and even though I qualify and technically was issued a stimulus check, child support took most of it for arrears and I have yet to get the rest of the check in the mail. So knowing that, I don't have expectations when it comes to my actual tax return. The guy at Jackson Hewitt said I would get it, but it's not much. But hey, something's better than nothing.

So yeah. That's what's been happening in my life.

[WalshFan88]

I'm so very sorry to hear about this, Elle81. Best wishes that things change for you soon.

I think everyone including myself can feel extremely destitute and helpless at times. Some of us have a worse hand dealt to us at birth or at any point in our lives than the other people we may know in our own lives or even the majority of the people around you personally or in your city/town, but there is always a worse situation than the one we are in that we may not know about or know of the person going through it, even a remote stranger in another country. Doesn't make it any easier to deal with, doesn't make it any less wrong or unjust to be put in that position, or fix your luck but it does make you feel not so alone in your situation of having it rougher than most and it certainly helps you to remember the things that might otherwise be unappreciated that you do still have that others may not and provides perspective and humility and gratitude, even if you feel like you have nothing to be proud of or thankful for you can always find something as no matter how isolating it may feel, there is someone in your situation, and even someone in a situation worse than that - you just may not know them or hear about it. Feeling alone is one of the worst things you can feel. And I don't just mean alone as in having no companion or friends. But rather feeling like you are in an injust situation and feeling you are the only one in said situation. I felt that for the majority of my youth. And I still can catch myself feeling like that. But you gain more perspective as time goes on and reading things like this is just another way to make you realize while you may not have much, you have something others may not. And rather than feeling boastful it humbles you and makes you realize you may have taken basic yet essential needs for granted.

[Elle81]

Thanks, Austin for those kind words. I actually have a bit of good news to share. I got a call back from an apartment that I had applied for and once they fix their glitchy computers (isn't technology wonderful? ) then I can complete the application. The manager I talked to said once I submit the completed form, it should take a week to process. And she seemed super excited when she asked if I still wanted the apartment and I said yes. Hoping and praying to the housing gods that I get this.
In the meantime, I have an account on a roommate/house share website and am looking at other options. I know and understand all the dangers of this and I am only considering that as an absolute last resort.

[LuvTim]

I'm so very sorry to hear about this, Elle81. Best wishes that things change for you soon.

I think everyone including myself can feel extremely destitute and helpless at times. Some of us have a worse hand dealt to us at birth or at any point in our lives than the other people we may know in our own lives or even the majority of the people around you personally or in your city/town, but there is always a worse situation than the one we are in that we may not know about or know of the person going through it, even a remote stranger in another country. Doesn't make it any easier to deal with, doesn't make it any less wrong or unjust to be put in that position, or fix your luck but it does make you feel not so alone in your situation of having it rougher than most and it certainly helps you to remember the things that might otherwise be unappreciated that you do still have that others may not and provides perspective and humility and gratitude, even if you feel like you have nothing to be proud of or thankful for you can always find something as no matter how isolating it may feel, there is someone in your situation, and even someone in a situation worse than that - you just may not know them or hear about it. Feeling alone is one of the worst things you can feel. And I don't just mean alone as in having no companion or friends. But rather feeling like you are in an injust situation and feeling you are the only one in said situation. I felt that for the majority of my youth. And I still can catch myself feeling like that. But you gain more perspective as time goes on and reading things like this is just another way to make you realize while you may not have much, you have something others may not. And rather than feeling boastful it humbles you and makes you realize you may have taken basic yet essential needs for granted.

Such an insightful post from a great young man! Beautiful response, Austin, you make me proud to "know" you, if only online.

[LuvTim]

Thanks, Austin for those kind words. I actually have a bit of good news to share. I got a call back from an apartment that I had applied for and once they fix their glitchy computers (isn't technology wonderful? ) then I can complete the application. The manager I talked to said once I submit the completed form, it should take a week to process. And she seemed super excited when she asked if I still wanted the apartment and I said yes. Hoping and praying to the housing gods that I get this.
In the meantime, I have an account on a roommate/house share website and am looking at other options. I know and understand all the dangers of this and I am only considering that as an absolute last resort.

Good luck, Elle, and hang on to the habit of hoping and praying!

[Elle81]

Good luck, Elle, and hang on to the habit of hoping and praying!

Thanks, LT.

[WalshFan88]

Such an insightful post from a great young man! Beautiful response, Austin, you make me proud to "know" you, if only online.

Wow. Thank you so much.

I just felt like sharing that because I know how it is to feel completely helpless and alone in the sense of feeling like you are going through something no one else is or has and how isolating and even more unfair it will feel as a result, beyond just the initial facts of the matter. It doesn't help and it can really spiral out of control. To know someone else is in a similar or same situation helps. And knowing that someone is in a worse place certainly helps bring you back down to earth and appreciate things you may not have before. I certainly have skated very close to the edge of depression before, and I've attempted suicide before as a teen and ended up in the hospital. A lot of it had to do with school bullying and the health situation I was in combined and feeling so alone and unheard and I'm thankful I made it through it. None of that experience was fun, but it was essential not only to save my life itself but to help me feel understood and heard. That band-aid had to be ripped off at once and it hurt.

Medication and therapy go a long way of course and I'm still doing both. I don't do therapy that much now but at least 3 or 4 times a year. I think having someone neutral and unconnected there to hear you out without feeling like you're burdening loved ones with these thoughts and feelings is so helpful, even though I've never been made to feel like a burden, I naturally worry about that because not only do I carry my own load of anxiety, I tend to pick up on everyone else around me that I care about and take on their worries and concerns like a sponge. It's something I'm cognizant of and I know it's not good for me, but I can't not do that. It's something I've worked on for years and made no progress if I'm being honest. I still add even more stress when others around me are struggling or hurting. It definitely makes my struggle that much harder because there is no way to perfectly line everything up all the time where I *and* the people around me are all feeling good and have no worries. It's usually one, the other, or both. And of course I'm that way, so I assume everyone around me is too so I naturally smile when I don't feel like it or downplay/hide how I'm feeling because I don't want to worry family and I'm a pretty closed off person in real life and wear things close to the vest.

[Elle81]

Because the computer glitched, my application was late and I was denied the apartment. The good thing though is that our lease was extended for another week, so that gives me a little bit more time to find another place or rent a motel room. I'm trying to look on the bright side, at least we aren't being forced out today.