:( I just feel all alone in my life. I have some friends, I have no love in my life, nor do I ever think I will. Everything feels so final since I'm a senior in high school. I've just been super super depressed since October. Every now and then People tell me I'm funny and a sweet guy, But inside I feel like a selfloathing creep. I want to be in love, I want to be happy. I'm sick of this lonely feeling because I feel to complex, I'm an atheist and I don't drink or do drugs nor do I ever plan to. Is there any steps I can take to being happy again? Please I'm reaching out to anyone. I can't afford anymore disappointment.

Good evening Meatbag...
I think some of what you are feeling we all felt as our senior year in high school came near an end. You have spent many years with the same group of kids in a lot of cases. Now you are getting ready to plunge into adulthood and that can be exciting but it can also be stressful and cause you to feel apprehensive.

As far as feeling alone and empty you phrase that by adding that you are single. As hard as it is to hear this, from an adult, you are so young. I know being in love causes a euphoria it can also cause heartache and headache (read some of the posts) If I can give you any good advice at all it would be that you have to learn to be happy and fulfilled with yourself, or you will never be able to be happy with another. I know that may sound so corny to you now but it's something that you will find so true later in life.

So how can we find that happiness that seems to be misplaced? Only you can really answer that. I can tell you that it helps to try to focus on the things that are exciting in your life. Do you plan on going on to College? If so, where? Do you have plans after HS that you are looking forward to coming to fruition? Have you decided what you want to be now that you're all grown up?

My best friend a few years ago started to do something that always made me smile. When he could sense I was having a rough day or getting complacent, he would send me an e-mail at the end of the day asking me to share with him something that made me smile today. That simple gesture has grown through the years and we will still do that with one another now. To this day that simple, small gesture alone makes me smile, when I'm feeling low. Focus on what makes you smile throughout your day.

When I was your age, I really had no clue. I had a 5 year plan, but as you find out later in life, our life journey takes on it's own path at times. We get lost, get a flat, pull over for a while and than eventually get back on track. My mother wanted me to be a nurse. That was all great and dandy my friend, except one minor detail she liked to think was not that important, I don't like the sight of blood. So needless to say, the nurse idea, didn't fly.

So please share with us "older" folk some of the ideas and plans you have. You can help us feel young again and we would love to hear them.

One last thing to leave you with that hopefully brings you a smile. I keep this posted above my desk as it makes me smile everyday. It was a speech I was told Bill Gates gave to a class of graduating seniors regarding their future. Try to read it and smile. You have your entire future ahead of you, really regret free. So many people would trade places with you in a minute. So stop putting so much pressure on yourself, you will be fine.


RULE 1
Life is not fair - get used to it.

RULE 2
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world
Will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel
Good about yourself.

RULE 3
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out
Of high school. You won't be a vice president with
Car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a
Boss. He doesn't have tenure.

RULE 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping
They
Called it Opportunity.

RULE 6
If you mess up,it's not your parents' fault, so don't
Whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as
They are now. They got that way from paying your bills,
Cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about
How cool you are. So before you save the rain forest
From the parasites of your parent's generation, try
Delousing the closet in your own room.


RULE 8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
But life has not. In some schools they have abolished
Failing grades and they'll give you as many times as
You want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the
Slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get
Summers off and very few employers are interested in
Helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10
Television is NOT real life. In real life people
Actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for
One.


Good luck to you, and remember always smile you never know who's falling in love with it.

Love them rules,

Thank you all so much for your help in this strange time for me.