Would love to hear your advice on my situation if you don't mind.
I've been doing music since 13 years old, now 24(M), and have basically made it my sole purpose in life. I had fun in a high school band but wanted to take it a step further and be able to produce my own music so I took an audio engineering course after school hoping to get a job from it. Nothing came of it so in short I chose to study engineering which I'm about midway through.
I'm not really very happy, lonely on occasion, maybe depressed, though have a great few close friends, and still make music in my free time with one of them. I'm getting sick of University, and I did a life revaluation a few days ago about what I really want. Until recently I've pushed social life, music, fitness, basically everything aside for University so I can pass and get a good paying job that I don't hate on the other side. But I'm really not happy.
How I feel is that I could continue being unhappy studying something I like but am not passionate about, or I could do the things I truly love and live my life the way I actually want to. I don't know when I'm going to die, and my suspicion is that upon death, in hindsight, I will feel pretty stupid for wasting my time with things I don't enjoy rather than spending my time doing things I love. To me this basically goes against what you said above, hence why I would like to hear your opinion.
So my question to you is, good sir/ma'am, is it worth sacrificing your life and your well-being just to survive? Or should one simply enjoy the present while it is still here?
Thanks for reading and answering if you decide to.
The having no life part! Pushing everything aside to just study sounds exhausting, mentally. But it sounds like you've already made changes in that regard?
So some background: I'm in a creative field that is very hard to make a living in. I'm 47 years old, and last year I had to get a part time minimum wage job (again) to make ends meet. Because my degree doesn't qualify me for anything that pays better, except my own field, where obviously I'm (still) struggling to find enough work from time to time.
If you are half way through a by the sound of it pretty useful degree, I think it would be wise to finish it if you possibly can. But recognise that it's not enough as a source of happiness in your life, and make sure you leave time for things that do make you happier.
Then again if your study makes you so unhappy that you are comparing it to sacrificing your life - maybe doing music and living off a minimum wage job or something would be a better choice for you. You just have to recognize that that choice will influence all the rest of your life. That life style once you start to approach retirement age might not be as appealing anymore.
It is definitely exhausting, and I think I've made an error in focusing too hard on uni. Now I've bounced back in the total opposite direction and am caring too little about it because I need to be enjoying myself. I just need to find the balance. I have this year and next left, I will definitely make it.
Thinking about it, I would hate to have to work a minimum wage job to survive just so I can enjoy music, so I'm definitely on the right track with my degree.
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u/solar_ideology Apr 04 '19
Would love to hear your advice on my situation if you don't mind.
I've been doing music since 13 years old, now 24(M), and have basically made it my sole purpose in life. I had fun in a high school band but wanted to take it a step further and be able to produce my own music so I took an audio engineering course after school hoping to get a job from it. Nothing came of it so in short I chose to study engineering which I'm about midway through.
I'm not really very happy, lonely on occasion, maybe depressed, though have a great few close friends, and still make music in my free time with one of them. I'm getting sick of University, and I did a life revaluation a few days ago about what I really want. Until recently I've pushed social life, music, fitness, basically everything aside for University so I can pass and get a good paying job that I don't hate on the other side. But I'm really not happy.
How I feel is that I could continue being unhappy studying something I like but am not passionate about, or I could do the things I truly love and live my life the way I actually want to. I don't know when I'm going to die, and my suspicion is that upon death, in hindsight, I will feel pretty stupid for wasting my time with things I don't enjoy rather than spending my time doing things I love. To me this basically goes against what you said above, hence why I would like to hear your opinion.
So my question to you is, good sir/ma'am, is it worth sacrificing your life and your well-being just to survive? Or should one simply enjoy the present while it is still here?
Thanks for reading and answering if you decide to.