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<p>Not sure why you are complaining. Are you being forced to live at home? I suggest you re-think your attitude. Those phrases (“wasting some of my best years”, “always have to come back home late at night just to have a place to sleep.”) sound ridiculously ungrateful. You are aggravated that you have a place to eat and sleep!</p>
<p>BTW, my S discovered that he had much less time and $$ to go out all weekend once he moved out and was responsible for all his own bills.</p>
<p>I had an apartment in NYC when I first got out of college. Three rooms, just for me. I almost never had anyone stay over, and I had a very active social life both in the city and with friends who lived outside of it. I also never stayed over friends’ places. I wanted to get home and wake up in my own bed. This was a million years ago, of course. When I had a serious boyfriend (who is now my husband) he did stay over, but that is something I would not have been able to do if I was still living home. That is just one of those freedoms you have to wait for until you are on your own.</p>
<p>I think you sound like a very thoughtful person, but forgive me if I suggest that you tackle the negative perspective a bit.</p>
<p>An inspirational story made the e-mail rounds a few years ago. It was about a very elderly man who had just lost his beloved wife, and was alone after over sixty years of marriage. He was no longer able to take care of himself, and needed to move to an assisted living facility. On the day of his arrrival, the staff found his cheerful attitude to be noteworthy. He was remarkably agreeable and upbeat despite his grief and the stress associated with the move to a completely different living situation (another enormous loss). As they walked down a hall, a nurse started to tell him what his room would be like. The old man told her that he KNEW he’d love it, even before he saw it. That is just the way he was determined to think.</p>
<p>This is just a little story but I always remember it. There are way, way bigger issues to come (count on that). In order to win at this game of life, we need to let a whole lot roll off of us along the way. You might as well start now.</p>
<p>spideygirl, you said that in a much more graceful way than I did!</p>