[stevenameyer]

I am by no means an expert but here's my two cents in the hopes that it helps:

1) Stop invalidating how you feel. Just because you feel like other people have it harder then you doesn't mean that you're not allowed to feel sad or down. Personally I find one of the most demoralizing things is feeling like your emotions are invalid, and feeling guilty for feeling bad only makes things worse. It may not seem obvious but everyone has their freak outs and times where things are rough and that is ok.

2) It may sound weird but try exploring how the emotions feel. Do they feel different in different situations? Is it more pronounced in certain situations? Does the feeling have triggers or feel connected to any aspect of your life? I find simply thinking about how it feels can help me determine the source.

3) Find things to look forward to. It doesn't have to be big but it's important to plan things to look forward to, it helps a lot with getting through the rough times. Even something as simple as a nice dinner every once and a while, going out with friends, or even a cold beer after a days work.

4) Seriously think about what makes you happy and what you want to do. Don't let other people define happiness or success for you because ultimately they are not the ones who have to live your life.

Hopefully that helped. Feel free to send me an email (in my profile) if you want, I'll try and help out if I can.

[turnwhere]

Thank you for the advice. Point 1 is so difficult. In fact it's why I don't tell anyone how I feel anymore (in real life, not the internet). It's so easy for someone to say yea but what about that kid in Africa who doesn't even have enough water for today. I don't know what to say to that.

I am trying 3 right now. It does help to get you through the day, that is for sure.

On point 4, my opinion is so weak and changeable that I'm not even sure what I want. Perhaps I need to build confidence first somehow.

[stevenameyer]

At the same time though I'm sure there are people who are a lot better off then you who still have rough times and feel down. The truth is that everyone has those times, and just because your not in the worst situation (you can always find someone in a worse situation) doesn't mean that it's not ok to feel how you feel.

As far as finding what you want it is a difficult question to answer. A lot of people struggle with it. My suggestion would be try a lot of new things that you think you may be interested in. Take some time to be a little selfish and figure out things about yourself you may not have know. It can be really easy to lose sight of who you are as a person when there is so much going around us so sometimes we just need to take some time and focus on us.