My advice? It's your life. Don't like it? Change it. We are at that great age where (other then the pooches of course) our responsibilities are flexible. The world is your oyster, so to speak.
Go back to school and get a degree in something. Start with part-time, take a handful of classes you are interested in/need to take (always do a mix of both), and go from there
pick a major for YOU. Forget about what is marketable... 90% of the population have jobs that have ZERO to do with their majors lol so just go with it. Get good grades. Trust me, it will open doors.
or don't. I mean, I've always LIKED school..which made my next step easy to choose. Ya, some classes kind of stink but mostly, I love to learn in the classroom environment. find a way that you DO love to learn.. find an internship, a volunteer program, hobby classes, martial arts, art, photography.. just finds something that makes you feel happy.
I'm majoring in ENGLISH! Lol arguably, the least "employable" major.. and I love it and am now doing better and loving school more then I ever have in my very-employable-science major.
MOVE. Somewhere, anywhere. Pick a city you love and just GO. Trust me from somebody who just did it, it's scary to think about leaving but once you do.. it's liberating, it's amazing, it's awesome. Do I miss the places I've left? Ya, I do miss my old friends, old jobs etc.. but I don't ever want to look back and know that I just stayed where I was because I was comfortable and scared. The places you leave will always be there to take you back if the move sucks, worst case scenario.
Live by-yourself, rent a room in a 10 bedroom home, rent a room with a family, get a studio tiny enough to be mistaken as a closet and make it your own.
Oh but this, oh but what about that. SHUT UP AND JUST GO. I'm not saying moving will make you happy.. because honestly, unhappy people will be unhappy just about anywhere. I'm saying that moving will give you a fresh start, somewhere to try new things, learn new things and meet new people and just..try.
Who was it that said, you'll regret the things you didn't do far more then the things you did.
and I certainly don't know who said this but.. "Before you diagnose yourself with depression, first make you that you aren't, in fact, just surrounded by as*holes" LOL
Look,the average human being spends 30% of their life working.
and about 1/3 of the rest of the time sleeping.
and 1/3 for everything else + etc..
Finding a job is important. Paying for stuff is important. but call me the eternal optimist but I personally believe in finding a job I love or at the very least ENJOY. I'm not spending 30% of my life hating what I'm doing or just making it until the end of the day.
I don't want to find a job with great vacation days.. I want to find a job I don't feel like I need to escape from!
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle." - Steve jobs.
I'm not saying you need to find a career that makes you want to break out into song.. but don't settle for an environment you hate just because it pays. Find something that does pay well, but please don't settle for something you HATE in an environment that makes you unhappy. The paycheck really isn't worth it if you dread waking up in the morning to go to work.
I am a proud escapee of the rut. I went to a school for a program I didn't love because I felt I was expected to, worked to make money, watched way too much netflix and spent way too much time on the internet and just..existed.
and one day I just moved. I applied to a bunch of schools in cities I liked with programs I enjoyed and just..packed up and left. I only applied to jobs that I thought would be fun and found one that I love going to every day. I found a tiny apartment I could afford that could easily be mistaken for a closet.
I signed up for martial arts classes and photography workshops and a watercolor painting class and calligraphy and yoga because they were things I always thought "one day..." but never felt I had the time. I stopped saying things like "I don't have time" because dammit. I did have time. I HAD PLENTY OF TIME. If I had enough time to watch the entire season of grey's anatomy in one sitting, I had enough time to actually do something I enjoy and that would be productive.
Your life doesn't start when you graduate high school, or get a career, or have kids, or graduate college, or have X amount in your savings, or find true love..you are living it right now and if you keep waiting around for life to hand you joy on a silver platter or for you to reach this magical time where you will have enough money, time, energy, and motivation to do all the things you want.. then you are going to be waiting a LONG LONG time.
People say crazy things like "Do things you love and love will find you." and at first you kind of want to kick those people in the face.
Until you start taking a martial arts class and meet a boy who thinks your awesome for learning how to fight and makes your heart flutter. And just like that..it happens.
You could walk out of your house tomorrow and get hit by a bus. or get diagnosed with bubble boy syndrome and never be allowed to leave your house! So do what makes you happy and explore and find passion..right now. You don't want to look back at your 20's.. when you are older with kids and a family and a career and a 401K and a mortgage and arthritis and realize that the years you COULD'VE done all those things you wanted and ticked everything off your bucket list and explored and took the time to just be young and selfish and follow your passions have already passed and instead of living them you spent them.. doing anything less then taking full advantage of them.
Some people might label me as a bit (ok very) optimistic or naive.. but that's my advice.
There are still moments in my life where I'm like "what am I doing.." and I feel awkward! lol that's life. but I dunno, I enjoy every day as much as I can and just kind of trust it'll all work itself out lol