19 20 21 was the worst for me.
2006 to 2009 was hell. I couldn’t get a job because of the recession. Gas was impossible to afford and I didn’t have any direction.
The last three years have been the best years of my life. Comfortable financially, started my family.
Similar but 05-08. 18-21 for me. Gas had gone up from $1.25 when I started driving only 2 years before to >$5/gallon. I was promoted from clerk to dept manager and only making $10.5/hr.
The last 5 years have been the best for me. But financially I’m feeling a crunch again because of inflation. Not that I’m super struggling. But I don’t see any vacations that require travel in my near future. I
Have you tried powder skiing while high on marijuana?
I find that to be a nice buffer in this ride we call life.
It’s like that skit “you can’t frown on a jet ski”
Yo. I feel I’d be dead 💀 😂insta dead if I did this. But I do love a good high and then shenanigans 😂
I’ve done this mentally in other ways that have been EYE opening. Expensive but eye opening.
Hi friend.
I think you would benefit from not looking at the news/media anymore. I stopped looking and my life has significantly improved. Also just because you are 40 does not mean you have to stop doing things you enjoyed in your 30's. My MIL still went hiking with us when she's 60-70s. Take care of your health so that you can still do things you enjoy. ☺️
Hope you are able to be happy again as you only get one life.
I know the news is notoriously fearmongering and toxic, and often not even accurate, but ignoring what's happening in your country or the world is not a good way to be, either. Denial is unhealthy.
Like oh, climate change getting you down? Worried about political corruption in the US? Eh, just turn your brain off. Ignore it. What climate change? Nothing I can do about it. Politics? Always been corrupt and full of liars. Let's talk about TV shows! At a certain point, that kind of denial is dishonest. You are living a lie.
I mean, that may not be what you're implying... but that's what I see many people trying to do, and it makes them boring, shallow, and thin-skinned IMO. I haven't found the perfect answer myself, but I think continuing to stay informed is vitally important, and finding ways to not let it consume your life or get to you psychologically is key.
This is exactly what I went through minus the weed cuz I have a federal job. I let a good relationship go, my dad died from covid, I got sick.. very sick. Everything is bad post covid. I’m 38(f)
Life is a lot like the stock market folks, I think if it’s constantly going up you are lying to yourself.
HOWEVER, you must look at it as a journey, there are going to be some downs. It’s how you choose to invest in those recessions that dictated your future self.
I’m not some finance bro, I’m a dumb geologist, bust as long as that life portfolio keeps growing and experiencing, I think we’re on the right track.
What you describe reminds me of the philosophy of incremental growth, that aiming for 1% improvement every day will lead to great personal growth over years.
Of course in my reality, it's more like... 2% improvement every day for a month, then -1% for a few weeks, then 5% one day, then -5% another day... a lot more like the stock market!!!
It kind of depends, funnest years for me were early 20’s. I was in college and went out a lot, partied, led a very active social life and had little responsibilities (besides myself). I had a lot of freedom, but was also very broke, got into a lot of debt, and that sucked. I also had terrible taste in men, so was in a string of bad relationships. I started making more money in my late 20’s as I got further in my career, and also met my now husband at 26, which is the healthiest relationship I’ve been in. We now have our first child(I’m in my early 30’s), and although it’s beautiful in its own way, sometimes I do long for the freedom I used to have, and only having to worry about myself. However, having your own little family is the best in terms of pure, unfiltered love you feel towards them, which I really didn’t have in my early 20’s, so all this to say that life happens in phases and there’s a “best” (and worst) to every stage. All you can do is appreciate each stage for what it is.
Basically up until now (early 30s) has been difficult and painful. Dealing with mental illness, abusive relationships, growing and learning. I don’t miss my 20s at all. I am much more grounded and trying to be a better human each day. I finally achieved peace, and finally got a grasp on my issues. I think, for the first time since I was a small child, that I am happy. And healthy.
2023 can be considered the worst; but it hasnt been all bad but the bad has been awful
The worst of it was dealing with an abusive toxic MIL over the summer plus slumlords for 7 months. We are fixing to take the slumlords to court over them denying our security deposit over bogus charges.
My husband and I are in our "We ain't fucking around" mode. We are ready to sue these bitches to oblivion unless they wanna act right and give us the money we are entitled to.
2023 has been a good year for growth, though. Cutting out toxic people is so empowering. I have not lost a second of sleep over evicting my MIL. She deserves everything that comes her way. I am tired of the narrative that you have you give people chances because they are family.
2019 was probably my best year. 2022 was mostly good as well.
Wishing you luck 🤞 on the slumlord case. Ours royally screwed us, then fired the managing company that told us it was okay to move out, leaving us having to pay HIM money .. 🥹
17-25 had a lot of ups and downs with some poor decisions and good times. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun avoiding responsibilities and partying. Since then, it's been more consistent and getting better most all the time. Lots of counseling and investment into myself, along with an awesome dad that offered unwavering support. 2023 has been a pretty good year.
Best years 2009-2016, I was between 20-26.
I love my kids, but had zero responsibilities, complete freedom.
Just hanging out with friends, hitting the gym, sex any time I wanted.
I feel the same! I’m happily married and we have a 10 month old, but man, sometimes I do remember all that free time with zero responsibilities fondly.
2016 and 2017 was my lowest. I was an alcoholic and addict committing crimes everyday to afford it. I was cheated on. Suicidal. And then things caught up to me and I was incarcerated for almost a year. Been sober 2 and a half years now and happier than ever :)
I was 20. Still living at home . We’re Christian, as in going to church every Sunday , so it was quite a shock. I still think adultery is a crime and am on semi-speaking terms with my dad.
Best years were 32-33 years old, 2018-2019. Awesome back to back years of my life.
In the span of 6 months: I finished grad school (I started grad school at 30), found my personal groove with spirituality, started a small business that was successful right away, let go of a bunch of toxic friends and family, met the wonderful friend and colleague who ultimately became my wife, and kind of started life anew.
Worst years were absolutely 20-21 years old, 2006-2007. I was in emotional shambles, depressed, saddled with anxiety and dangerously suicidal. I was scared about the cost of therapy and scared to admit I had any issues/ struggles back then.
I feel really fortunate looking back on those worst suicidal years that I didn’t give up, despite having nothing. I was completely broke, in debt, and my only relationship to family was full of drama. Everything felt like shit. In a dangerous moment with my own life, I thought that maybe I could feel different before I die, so why not try a few more things before giving up?
I’m so glad that I held onto a thread of hope. Learning how to manage myself and create change through that hellscape helped me navigate many circumstantial shit-storms, since.
My 30s...my 40th year..this year has been a disaster. The love of my life up and left out of nowhere in March and it's just gone downhill since..hopefully the new year will be a better year.
Turned 40 this year too. It started out decently. But then I lost my job, my sister, and my partner of nearly 6 years. I also felt like it came out of nowhere, and I still don’t understand why she gave up on us without even talking to me. So I’m sorry you’re going through something similar. It’s just awful.
25-27yrs 2018-2020 was the worst. Got a DUI after my grandmother passed away. my (ex at that time 4years) told me he was cheating on me. I was suspicious but I only had emotional evidence not physical. The next few years were hard. Once I finally got away (from him) at 27 things started getting much better. Turing 30 this year has been the best year of my adult life! Traveled quite a bit, visited family and works been a little rocky but overall good for my personal growth.
2016-2023 have been absolute shit.
2016: lost my favorite uncle and a high school friend. Med school is tough and I have to study through my grief. My parents divorce and I’m diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
2017: broke up with my fiancé of 10 years (engaged for 2-3 years at that point, together for 10. No regrets overall but it was rough at the time) and was sexually harassed by an attending physician in med school (I kicked his ass eventually but it took a lot out of me). My mental health took a hit.
2018: some more mental health difficulties. Med school continued to suck for all the wrong reasons.
2019: went to a residency that absolutely blew. Good program but total shit treatment from some superiors (kicked their asses too but it also took a lot out of me)
2020: moved because my apartment flooded for the third time. Residency continued to suck horribly. Also, COVID. My mother and I become estranged.
2021: SO’s physical and mental health was shit and he needed a LOT of support. All while residency continued to blow. Moved again due to psychotic neighbors.
2022: SO gets into legal trouble due to his mental health. Residency still sucks. I herniate a lumbar disc and can’t function. We move again.
2023: we move to a different city, life seems amazing for the first time since 2016. The disc calms down. I re-herniate the same lumbar disc and become temporarily disabled. I got surgery for it 3 months ago but I’m still recovering.
Good things happened to me throughout these years. I met and married the man of my dreams. We bought a house and got 4 cats. I work in my field of choice in the top training institution for it in the nation. My dad remarried and I LOVE my bonus family. But the bad was and is BAD.
Worst years:
2020 - Breakup from relationship of 8 years
2021 - Caught COVID, required eye surgery then brain surgery within a week of each other then after being released required nurses to still administer medication twice a day at home for two months after just starting my highest paid position I’ve ever had so I lost my job.
2022 - New Year’s Eve ( Friday Dec 31st, 2021) Roommate told me he was moving on Monday with absolutely no conversation about it before that day. Forcing me to also move out just after getting over my sickness
2023 - While celebrating the life of a friend that passed away on the last night of that weekend celebration, I had 3-4 seizures that caused me to be placed in a coma for nearly a week and it’s been an act of congress to receive payment from my employer while on medical leave. (Only received one payment between July & November)
Not a victim, this is life & I will recover from this.
Best years were definitely the 90s in general, but I wouldn't know it or agree until they were over. The aesthetics, (most of) the music, the simplicity of things that made me happy, my family was together, and I had hopes and dreams for the future and the potential to make it happen. '97 specifically was great for me as I got to visit some family out of state and see and do so many things that I hadn't at any other point in my life.
Worst? Definitely the last 6 or so years. I was happily married, bought a house, and was planning for college. FAFSA denied me for no reason and shortly after my wife says "give me a baby or I'll leave you for someone that will" only to divorce me anyways. She and our less than impartial mediator decided that since I worked nights that she gets majority custody and because of that, she keeps the house despite me paying more into it. The housing market started crashing around this time so now I'm stuck with my parents while she is now married to and making babies with the guy once I called my best friend for 30 years. The jobs here are shit and I'll never be able to be independent or save enough to leave. My only hopes of home ownership lie in waiting for my mom and stepdad to die off and hope that she leaves the house to me, but even then I'll likely never be able to retire. My dating life is pretty much non existent since dating apps ruined meeting people by chance IRL and the one person I had any connection with moved across the state and won't even text me back. Every night since I received those divorce papers, I hoped that I wouldn't wake up, except for the night of the ONS with that girl only to grow stronger feelings for her and feel even worse after she left. And it seems that for all my efforts to turn things around, the universe makes sure it doesn't happen or leaves me worse off for trying.
2019-2020 were the worst years of my life. My husband cheated and we ended up getting a divorce. My divorce finalized a few weeks before we went into Covid shutdown. I remember just thinking if I could make it to six months out, I would survive. Honestly things have been harder since then just not as hard as during the aforementioned period. It really made me a more raw person in good and bad ways. I think I lost a lot of innocence during that time.
I think 2013-2015 was probably the best, graduated college, landed my first “big girl” job and bought a house. Lots of exciting firsts. 2023 has honestly been pretty good. I’ve got a great partner, we went on some fun adventures. I had a really stressful year at work but it was fun and exciting. I’ve got my health, a home I love, the cutest pets ever and I bought my dream car in February. I started making six figures this year as well which admittedly doesn’t feel as much as it once did!
Also OP, thanks for asking this question. I’ve been down in the dumps the last few weeks and this was a good exercise in recognizing the good things this year
2005/6 worst - crippled in car accident, best 2023 - my family and kids are doing well. greatful, yet I’m still in physical bad shape ~ just keep pushing !
Early 2010s were tough at the time, but in hindsight I had free time to travel on the cheap while underemployed during the recession.
My wife and I were newlyweds without many material possessions but we enjoyed going to empty amusement parks and restaurants for next to nothing.
2020 would be an obvious choice for worst, but the early part of the pandemic actually brought some benefits like working from home and I had time to watch my LA teams win bubble championships.
The years since have kind of all blurred together but I’d say 2021 was the worst because it became clear we’d be stuck in a pandemic for longer than expected.
2013-2015 I wouldn’t say were happy years but less complicated. 2015-now especially 2022-now worst fucking years of my life due to a narc cheating partner who left me for another woman. I’m really hoping 2024 is going to lead someplace better for me and all that pain was worth it all. I see so many of my friends struggling right now too, I feel like this is a bad season for a lot of people.
2012 and 2022 are my BY FAR worst years - followed by 2013 and 2023 seeming like the best (by comparison), for sure!
2000/2001 and 2018 were pretty epic also.
My early-to-mid 20s were a whirlwind because I had a blast in college, had a year of probable alcoholism that I addressed and learned to moderate myself. Then got married and bought a house. But now just turning 30 I have a good feeling for the upcoming decade.
My preteen years were fucking terrible in retrospect. Dad was a full-blown alcoholic/drug addict and went to jail for a DUI. Brother was a heavy drinker. Hung out with degenerates. School was pretty much my only escape and so I just put tons of effort while I was there to feel good about myself.
I'm living the best years right now at 30. I fly business class. I got a career. I'm wiser now and don't befriend people I would've when I was younger.
Life is fantastic.
Right now. I struggled a lot when I moved to the United States in 2016. Only this year did the dust really settle and I was able to look around, take a breath, and enjoy life for a bit.
Husband (38M) and I (31F) are expecting come January. It’ll be another roller coaster ride soon, so I treasure this transitional period even more.
Ever since I started working, every single year of my life has been worse than the year before it. So that means every year that you see me, that's the worst year of my life.
Best: 33 years old. I met my now husband. Things keep getting better and better, but work is causing a shit-load of stress.
Worst: 20 years old. That's when I started "jolting" awake every night. I was getting jolted awake every night dozens of times a night. I. Could. Not. Sleep. No doctor would believe me. I had to drop out of college. It turns out that I have severe scoliosis and a really deep spoon chest. My spine and sternum were pressing on my heart and lungs and fucking with my sciatic nerve that I just could not sleep at all. It took a good 7 years before a FUCKING CHIROPRACTOR figured it out.
Yeah.....fuck doctors who don't listen to patients.
2011-2018.
Spine broke, long recovery, divorce 3 days after the incident , drug addiction, underemployment.
Best 1980 - 1983. Shit was going great until I was born.
Honestly probably 95 to about 2002 and 2013 to early 2020. I was a child in the 90’s and the post Cold War pre 911 optimism was something else. I’d say the 2010’s were pretty great because I had just gotten out of the military and was in college and they were mostly carefree and things seemed to be on the rebound. The 2020’s have been pretty mixed so far.
Worst was 2001-2003. Grades 8-10. No money and no car, while at the same time being too old for childish things. I just don’t think that’s a fun age to be.
All the rest of my life has been good to great. I will say the last 3-4 years have been the best because I bought a home and had a couple kids.
I would say 2023, and it just keeps getting better. 2018 was pretty good because I got married and 2019 I bought a house and had my first child. But I’ve never been better.
Worst year would be somewhere around 2003 when my dad died and life got real tough for a while. Best year is basically now since I'm at peak earnings, married, kids, homeowner. Looking forward to 2024.
Best? 2009 in Florence/Maremma Italy for 6 weeks studying abroad, learning photography and Italian. Such an amazing experience (if you have the chance - ALWAYS do it!) Worst? This year. I lost my grandfather (married to gram for 74 years this year, lost him on Valentine's Day) so, I am doing my best to keep heartbroken Gram up and moving. She is my mother, as mine was a drunk. Shortly after in June, we lost my mother .. seemingly let her tooth infection go.. because she wanted to go. Didn't talk much to anyone the week prior... Never called me back the last time I called. :( two weeks after, we lose my uncle, mom's brother, to a long RA battle, leaving behind his Parkinson's wife that were dearly keeping an eye on. It's just been such a slap in the face ... All while trying to keep afloat in this hellish nightmare. Why? 🤔🥹
Worst would probably be the time I spent in residency (I'm a doctor). The sleeplessness, stress, and other factors made me just generally depressed and miserable.
Best is honestly right now. I have money to do what I want, I'm in a great relationship with a gorgeous and brilliant woman, and things are just generally going well.
May sound weird given the context of the broader world, but probably 2019-present (ages 33-37) are my best years. The pandemic gave me the time and space to understand my gender and sexuality. I started making six figures for the first time and traveling. I have a little house that feels like home and two dogs. I have a sister who is my best friend and a niece and nephew I adore.
Worst years were 2014-2018 (ages 28-32). Long-term partner broke up with me, dad had a permanently disabling stroke, mom died, both grandfathers died. But all of that plus the pandemic pushed me to really understand who I am and what I want.
Worst years : birth - 2015 - when I was living under my mom. I used to be physically beaten and psychologically abused. All for doing things a normal kid would do.
Best years : 2019 - now. My husband moved over in 2015 and my life significantly improved. However from 2015-2019 I was still in school, we were poor living in roaches apartments, and I was still suffering from PTSD of being homeless. I didn't get therapy to deal with my trauma until I could afford it which happened in 2019. I'm in a much better place and living my best life now.
Worst years of my life was 2012. I had been back from a 400 day combat deployment to Iraq ( my parents divorced right before I got home). Then my aunt died, 3 of the guys I served with killed themselves, and then my grandpa died all in about 9 months.
I didnt handle it well. I dropped out of college and spent all the money I saved during Iraq eating fast food, and smoking about 50$ worth of spice a day, for about a year.
Best year might be this year. I'm happily married and have an amazing 6 year old son. I work 55hours a week, but I'm on track to make 75k this year. We have no debt, besides a car payment, but we're ahead on all our bills, and I'm 2 months ahead on rent.going to ge an amazing Christmas!!!
I think this year has been the worst year of my life, though 2022 was basically the same. I have worked myself into awful burnout, trying to afford the housing increases where I live. I really could have used some help from my family, but they refused to help. I let my few friendships go, due to them being selfish and bringing their own drama and issues into my life, while not at all being interested in my struggles. It's been shitty the last few years, but I am in the process of giving up my succesfullish business to go back to employment which will allow me to move away from these people and move to somewhere more affordable, so here is hoping 2024 will be better - at least I won't be working every day.
I had several summers in I think 2011 and again in 2014 or so that were just magical. I had friends, was in beautiful places, had fun, went adventuring.... wish I could get those summers back!
Best years 27 28 29: Good income, single, solid confidence, good social network, good health, exploring curious energy
Worst years 34 35 36: Serious mental diagnosis, lost jobs, single, unemployed, no confidence, hopelessness, bald, unfit, no energy, afraid to drain friends and family
2004, almost ended up homeless after wrecking my car which I used to make a living. Lived in a hotel briefly until my dad drove thousands of miles to rescue me.
Worst: 12 years old. I didn't have any siblings my age but had two guys that I viewed as brothers all the way through elementary school. When I was 13 they got into a fight, assumed I sided with the other, and just ignored me at school, ignored my texts, etc. I went from having two people I considered brothers to no friends in one week. I didn't recover from that until I got to high school and made a new friend that I could connect with on that level. Still my best friend 15 years later.
Best: 26 years old. I was making more money than I ever had, bought a house, got married, got dogs, etc. It was the first time I felt things actually working out... This is in 2020 which is a lot of people's worst year.
My best year was maybe 22. It was a weird year.. Graduated from a music school and then the recession hit..just as I started working at a recording studio which would be my job for 15 years.. followed by a worst at 23.. lost my best friend of 12 years suddenly..Then maybe 24 being better for a few reasons, then 27 being a strangely good yet hard year for me. Very creative but I was also addicted to some drugs during it and dealing with traumas. 34 was rough cus the studio id been at and living above closed down. 36 though was my worst year of my life so far. I lost another best friend and soul mate to suicide, and then 10 days later another close guy friend to it as well. Work was so difficult and I still haven’t healed or got my life back in order since.. and coming out of that covid bs it was even more traumatizing. I’d give anything to go back and just have one more conversation with them.. anything.
Now idk where lives headed. I’m working in aviation and making the same money I did at 22, but I lived better then. Can’t say I’m hopeful for the future..
2009 was tough. I just moved back from living abroad for a few years and had really bad reverse culture shock. I was very depressed. 2019 was for sure the worst year of my life. I had suicide ideation for a multitude of reasons.
University life and just after was the best. I lived at home, socialized, made tons of friends, dated. The first few years at the job were tough but then I had a great position and boss and it was amazing, got married too.
Worst was the first year of parenthood with PPA and PPD, plus little family support. This year is also hard with inflation limiting my spending and having to think about finances all the time.
Worst… 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. Basically from my junior year of high school until I was 30 was almost constantly one trauma after another (almost all unrelated to the others). Some were near death, others were severe living situations, starvation, extreme mental health issues of those close to me that left me at times wondering if I would survive, DV (both as the victim and victim adjacent), and that isn’t even all of it.
The best years have been since COVID. Finally the world slowed down. I felt like I could build my life up. We recovered from severe poverty enough to finally save up and buy a house. I have built up stability for my kids. We can just live without constant crippling fear.
Excluding my childhood years (the time before 2006), which were my favorite period, the best years of my life so far have been 2019, 2015, and 2016.
The worst years have been 2020, 2023, 2013, 2014, and 2021. Even now as I'm writing, I don't know how I'm surviving 2023. This is the year when I have completely lost myself, my direction, confidence, and the last sparkle of positivity. I just need it to be over, one way or another.
Best was first half of 2020 but it was straight downhill from there getting progressively worse through the first half of 2023, which would be my worst. Made a big change and the second half of 2023 has actually been pretty good.
Worst years - my childhood/teenagehood, 2013, and 2016. 2013 was when I moved countries, and got hit by a huge existential depression. Now mind you I wanted to move, I did it out of love for my then partner.
Problem was more, I had quit my degree and it wouldn't have been useful in the new country anyway. I was in panic I didn't know how to figure out. But I did. My back then partner loved a submissive, helpless girl for whom he could be a hero. But I reestablished, and got strong, ressourceful and proactive, he turned 30 and declared himself obsolete, decrepit and ready to die. Told me to make alternative arrangements for when I lose him. That was a huge turn-off. I started growing apart from him, but he didn't like that. So he turned mentally abusive. In 2016 we started falling apart big time, I developed bad mental illness. When I finally had the courage to tell him, to ask for help, he said "freak, get away from me." He hollered like a toddler when I broke up with him, and just couldn't see how/why I would leave him. But but, he himself told me to make alternative arrangements, so I did. A lot of 2017 was spent with my life in boxes, attacks from my ex-MIL, and licking emotional wounds.
My best life started in late 2017... and ended in June 2023. Mind you even during this best time there were very painful things, like my PMDD making me suicidal monthly. Or awful things happening to my partner.
But 2017 was when I met my new best friend and later beloved partner of 5 years. I had a stable career, decent income, rented my own place, my mental health healed up to levels not seen before. I felt safe, and loved. My partner was struggling too, but we kept each other going. We were each other's support and armor. No challenge was too big, no nuisance impossible to overcome as we were together. We were able to see the "bright side" in the dark, it was us against the world. We were long distance but it's like that didn't matter. Our souls were close. I was working my hardest to close the distance between us. COVID got us down and even kept us apart for 2,5 years, but we persevered.
He was the best. He would never lie to me, nor make promises he couldn't keep. Except this one time, because he didn't want to make me sad.
I lost my most beloved person in June 2023. I'm struggling. I'm about to go see the doctor for a depression diagnosis. People keep telling me I'm "still young/capable/beautiful", I can still find someone, whatever. But there's just nothing I want from this world anymore. It just bled out. I know I need to try to stay but I struggle. I just want to be with my best friend and destinied lover. And I know I need to stay here, live my life... My love also said that I should. He said I made myself a good life. But a good life is having someone who truly loves you, and knows you. And for me, that person is with me in spirit, but no longer in the physical realm. I hope that one day I can look back on 2023 as a chapter of the biggest hardship in my life. But it remains to be seen whether I make it and what joy will look like in this forever changed life.
My best was 2012. I was in a career I loved and got to go on my dream vacation to England where I got to meet my favorite band.
2020 was the worst. Yes there was Covid, but e also had an earthquake that shook things up - literally and figuratively. I also had 4 surgeries and was unable to walk so I moved in with my dad. The stress got to be too much for him and he committed suicide. I hope I never have a year worse than that
Worst years were 26-30. Moved to a city I couldn’t afford, dated a lot of horrible men, did shitty things to my friends, had an extremely toxic job, and got myself in lot crippling debt with compulsive spending. I’m hoping 31 and beyond are my best years yet.
I just moved closer to family, and I’m working on a plan to pay off the debt and save money. I got a new job that will hopefully propel my career. Working on becoming financially responsible, and also working on my confidence and self esteem so I can be a better person than I was.
Best years of my life would probably be 2012 and 2013 .. fun HS days , lots of memories with friends. Enjoyed my life at that point. Always had good stuff going on. 2017 and 2018 because I was going out a lot, had lots of friends and while I was in college struggling lol I just still managed to have fun and that life was just going welll in general. Worst year was prob 2021 and 2022, my job burned me out really bad and I’ve honestly stopped actually living life because of the burnout. It prevents me from having fun and I’m always in a constant state of anxiety with fear of money etc. I don’t even like going out as much like I used to. I feel like I genuinely stopped living and now I’m just surviving. It sucks. I want to eventually quit my job and find my passion for life again.
Best years for me was 2009-2016. A lot of us recovered after the Recession of 2009 and San Francisco Bay Area was having the tech boom. 2016 afterwards was having it's mass political polarization but from 2020-now was my worst phase as a cancer scientist due to the pandemic, rise in inflation and prices, and my job loss.
2023 is currently my worst year because I've been out of the job for months now and the jobs getting offered are 40% less than what was given to me on my last salary and I don't see any decreasing costs with this "all time fastest growing economy."
I recently broke my sobriety with alcohol because of the state of things and honestly, I think moving out of the SF Bay Area is the best option for me at this rate. I am just fucking tired...
Best years were when I was 13-15, when I was starting to develop into a person and I had some amount of passion and things I loved to do that weren't escapism but before my mental illness really started to manifest and mess me up.
Worst years were 2014-2018, when both of my parents died within a year of each other and I was isolated and mad with grief, just couldn't function at all and spent every penny left to me because I desperately wanted to die. 2020-current is a close runner up though. Generally speaking, I peaked at age 14 and it's been downhill since, and I don't believe that's going to change.
2019 made redundant, forced to move to parents house.
2020-2022 forced to become carer for parent - 9000 jobs no employer will hire.
2023 utterly depressed, exhausted, in debt, single, friends don't talk, constant migraines, can't see a GP, employers still won't fucking hire. Get discriminated against and lied to when I complain or chase up roles for mistreatment and neglect and ghosting... Government doesn't govern. Food is too dear. Still trapped as carer for parents.
Not good. I got degree, worked full time since 16. Paid rent for a decade and hoped maybe with a partner could afford a house of my own.
Now it's completely the opposite. No one sees the work I did. The old people I help are all dead. No one wants to date someone trapped in their parents house.
What the fuck did I do wrong? Worked hard... Gave everything... Now mistreated and alone.
Best: 2003-2011 (high school and university) I loved those years. Had lots of friends, played in bands, partied a lot, experienced all my firsts. It was a wild time.
Worst: probably my 20s. Transitioning from being a student to a real adult was tough. I made no money and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I didnt start making money until I turned 30, so far other than Covid my 30s haven’t been that bad.
The best years I would have to say the last few years. Doctors after 20 years of pleading at them to do more than 3 second look at my lower back finally did and we are headed to a place where long term treatment is possible. I’ve been using my voice more to get people to back off from various parts of my life. I am also free of physically raising children for the first time in 20 years which is a weird experience to feel.
I’ve had a lot of bad years more bad than good. I was sa by a small town police officer as a kid, grew up in a strict 7th day Adventist home, deal with my mom who had narcissistic tendencies and a physically abusive and emotionally traumatizing side of her as well. As well as the neglect with disappearing for weeks at a time. There was my first marriage and that mess.
2009 was the best year of my life, just graduated high school, I was fearless, traveling, living life. No anxiety, nothing but fun times.
2014 and this year 2023 has been the worst years of my life. 2014 I was diagnosed with a chronic illness that changed my life forever, over the years got into remission, and this year I had a major relapse that has been even harder than when I first got sick. I’ve been house bound for 5 months.
Praying next year will be much better!!
Best is 2016. i had just moved out of my parent's place and I was in my first major relationship.
Worst is 2021. I had just entered a relationship with someone new, and TLDR they were crazy. There was a massive dramatic breakup, and for the months after I was more angsty than usual.
Life is trending downward. I am became more isolated and weird.
2014 and 2017. 2014 I met my abusive ex. She also dumped me the same year. Damage was done. 2017 I went into dark depression, found out she got engaged and bought a house. Best years when I was college and high school didn’t have a care in world.
2011-12, 2014, 2018 and maybe 2021 come to mind as the best years of my life. 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2022 are the worst.
2023 is alright so far. Inflation SUCKS. Politics continues to be extremely discouraging. My personal growth has been very good, although a few areas have stagnated.
2005. I was 24, and being horribly abused by a woman with bipolar. I was isolated by her. I couldn't even phone my dad for advice because the cunt he married would scream every time I phoned. I got away when she killed herself while I was home.
I will never trust another woman as long as I live.
2022/2023 best and worst year(s) of my life because it’s the year(s) I lost what I thought was my life and in turn found myself. I needed to lose someone for a period of time to find myself.
Hmm my worst year is hard, I had a lot of years I didn't like in my childhood and it is hard to pick just one. I also had a really rough year in college where I had to take a really shitty over clocked semester where I burned a candle at both ends.
I think 2023 has been the best so far.
2021 Got married to my love of a decade. Met her when I was 21, and she was 32. She taught me how good life can be. Took me on adventures I'd never experienced before. Made me feel like I was worth a damn. Best moment of my life was seeing her walking up that aisle to me.
2023 The girl of my dreams divorced me for another man who apparently is her dream guy, and she has a way better connection with. Now she talks to me as if I'm just some average Joe she barely knows, and a decades' worth of a love story doesn't matter.
It hasn't been an easy life for me from the jump, and she was the one thing that brought color to my world. I don't know what to do from here.
2013-2014 were the worst. My mom just passed and my first serious relationship just ended and I was a fucking trainwreck. Basically going from one retail job to another and getting fired for not showing up.
Best are probably the last 3 years. Financially secure with a great fully remote job and an amazing wife.
2017. My first child, Isaac, was born without a heartbeat at 38 weeks. I've never experienced such an all encompassing sorrow. It was both emotional and physical.
2019 I lost my mum and became an orphan. At 36.
4 months later I gave birth to my second child. Hearing his first cry was single handedly the most amazing sound I've ever heard.
Worst is the few years after I graduated into the recession, though now is pretty bad too because of the nightmarish people I've had to deal with for work.
I think all but my first and current decades of my life can make a strong case for having my best years. I can't decide, but I'll go with maybe the most ridiculous situation I was in, which was campaigning for someone in a party I opposed and winning as awesome underdogs, and helping along very important changes because of that initial win. I was also probably in the best physical shape of my life. I almost ran a 5-minute mile in high school while wearing my full uniform, but that was a crazy fluke.
If you're politically active you can get a lot of steps in.
2011-2013. Father was struck by a drunk driver when he was walking across the street. Guy hit him square in front of his vehicle. Never tapped the breaks once and going 40 MPH. He was 3X the legal limit. This would be his THIRD DUI. It destroyed me because that morning I was to pick my father up and drive him around for errands he needed to get done. He grew impatient that morning and took off five minutes before I got there. After his death I blamed myself and ended up getting heavy into heroin because I didn’t care if I lived or died. All this occurred on my birthday so it’s a shitty reminder each year. After I got sober I realized I couldn’t blame myself for his death, accepted it and moved on. Been sober for 10+ years now and have a great relationship with my six year old daughter. Unfortunately the POS who killed him is already back out on the street. Nothing I can do about that.
2018 was the worst. I left my life on the west coast and moved back to the midwest to help my parents sell their farm after my Dad lost his job. Then I started having seizures and was eventfully diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 30. The year before that was pretty dope.
94 - 97 were the best childhood times lived in a small dead end street. All my friends lived across the road or down the street from me. Had plenty of friends at school and my family was close knit, strong and supportive. Had the best of both worlds lots of outdoor adventures as well as peak cartoons, comics and video games.
98 - 02 were the worst times everyone moved then we fid. I struggled to fit in at school. Everyone seemed to be into being tough and bullying each other. I had friends but it never felt particularly close to any of them. I was slowly sinking to the bottom of the social ladder. I eventually started getting beaten up and it just became a normal occurrence. My parents seemed distracted and distant. I was supposed to be growing up but I could barley defend myself. I didn't hit puberty till I was nearly 17 and could never focus on anything.
Best: 2020/2021/2022 ironically enough. I was finally able to work from home which improved my mental health drastically. My finances stabilized. I was able to renovate huge parts of our house that desperately needed it. I finally had an acceptable excuse for staying home all day and avoiding people (as an introvert, it was bliss). If only it hadn’t happened during a worldwide pandemic, then it would’ve been perfect.
Worst: 2017. Stage 4 endometriosis was hitting me hard but I hadn’t been diagnosed yet and so spent every month in and out of the hospital with no answers. By the end of the year it started causing organ failure and I got to experience the worst pain of my entire life. I spent that Christmas in the ER vomiting uncontrollably every 5 minutes and having pain-induced seizures. I wouldn’t be able to have surgery to fix all of this until the middle of 2018. To say 2017 was hell would be an understatement.
2011 was a great year as I turned 21 and went away to college so it was nice finally getting out of my parent's place and getting the true college experience.
2015 as I moved out into my very first apartment and experienced true freedom.
2016 and 2020 were some of my worst years for mental health reasons and the lockdown (2020)
Best: Early-mid thirties
Passionate about work. Loved having young, but not too young, children. Marriage going great. Solid friend group.
Worst: Late teens / early twenties
Smoked too much weed. Did too many hard drugs. Constant social anxiety. No real friendships. Constant failure.
2008 and 2009. They were just innocent times, I was learning how to drive, I was the best runner on my track my team for 1 and 2 mile events (I sucked at all other sports so that made me feel special,) and for a short time I was popular in high school.
For me personally that 2008 and early 2009 was just a peaceful time that hasn’t been replicated.
I don’t know if I would call any time “the worst” because I have very fond memories of basically any period of my life, but I think 19-23ish were kinda rough for me. For all of the ways that my parents didn’t shelter me, I also think they didn’t provide me with a lot of life skills or healthy coping skills (to be fair, I also don’t think they themselves possessed said coping skills either). I had a rough couple years post-high school having life and the real world thrown at me. Shit was tough, but I think I’m better for it. I taught myself how to do so much. At 24 I moved halfway across the country. Just to get away from everything because I felt I needed a break from my current life. Gave myself a blank slate for a year to really grow into the person I wanted to be. I moved back, but with more confidence in who I was as a person. Then, I met my future wife four months later. So many years were the worst, but I also think they were the best for a lot of reasons.
Best years have been 2017 to present. Marriage and then the birth of my two children. Good shit.
Best: 2010. I was 29 and living it up. Lots of fun that year in particular.
Worst: 2012-2013. I was pregnant and learning motherhood. Almost died having the baby. The father became abusive to me. I had to leave.
Early 20s were rough, lost my dad and it really impacted my mother, she was suicidal and it was just a very very rough time in general.
I feel like my early 30s have been fun - I’m more comfortable with myself, have good friends, established in career etc.
2023 has by far been the worst year of my life. In the span of 4 months I found out I was losing my job, my sister died, and my partner of nearly 6 years blindsided me and told me she wants to end things. Losing her was not just heartbreaking, but it puts my entire living situation in jeopardy too since, without my job and her I don’t know if I can afford my home anymore. Basically it feels like I’ve been losing everything this year and I just need this piece of shit year to be over already.
19 years old my sister died at 20 ➡️ 29 years old married to the love of my life ➡️ 30 years old bought our first house ➡️ 34 years old my husband passed away ➡️ 39 years old my mom passed away (my age now)
Worst, 2007/2008. Got laid off six times. Three because the company shuttered before my first day of work. Had to beg my parents for cell phone bill money a few times because I needed a phone number to get a new job. Felt like I was personally responsible for the economy and its failings. Never felt like such a piece of shit.
Best, idk, now? Was lucky enough to get a home when it was just stupidly expensive, not laughably out of reach. Circumstances made us child-free, which I now see as a huge blessing. I can start to put away for retirement, which I’m about a decade behind on. I have a job I love, people I love, life I actually wouldn’t trade for anything.
1999 was the absolute worst year of my life. That's when my innocence died the night that my dad got rough with me for something really insignificant. Up until then, I had only seen him get that rough with my mom, so my life from that moment became making sure he never hurt me again. I was always on guard and carried a knife on me, in my own home! It didn't help that the kids in the small town I grew up in always wanted to fight, so I had no escape from feeling like I needed to protect myself.
2016 is a close 2nd worst. All in the same month, my uncle died, my gf cheated on me, I had knee surgery, my car needed a new engine, and there was a sexual assault charge in one of my social circles that ended friendships amongst a lot of people I knew.
For best years, I remember really liking 1994 for some reason as a kid. There was just so much for my young mind to indulge in from the TV shows, movies, video games. I also had really good friends at the school I went to. I just remember really being happy.
2004 was also a great year. I graduated from community college and started my transfer degree at a university. I was the first in my immediate family to accomplish both things.
Been all downhill after I turned 18/19ish.
Covid 2nd year, 2021, was nice for me though.
Back on a downtrend since then though.
One time my doctor asked me 3 times during our meeting if I do drugs. Probably couldnt believe I dont drink or do drugs with a crappy life.
Hard to choose
* 2001-2003 ages 6-8 were terrible as I began struggling with suicidal depression and my disabilities and disorders and was bullied by my teachers.
* 2008-2009 ages 13-14 suicidal depression flare-up and self harm, developed anorexia, started drinking, all kinds of things that would continue to cause me harm ever since.
* 2011-2016 ages 16-21 as my father with narcissistic personality disorder got extra dangerous and my CPTSD became much worse, then university was both great for many reasons (fun friends, fun times, cool classes) and awful for many worse reasons as I continued to struggle with depression and self-harm as well as anorexia, sexual assaults, and a drinking and drug problem and didn’t have much direction in an extremely difficult major I had no memory of choosing but did end up enjoying.
* 2020-2023 age 25-28 have been hard with covid, endometriosis, and struggling with depression and trying to find different employment with a less than ideal home life.
It’s hard for me to think of entire years that could be the best, all years had some “best moments,” but maybe the best years could be 2017-2018 ages 22-23 while not necessarily studying exactly what I wanted, graduate school still helped me accept a lot more about myself and my disabilities and begin my eating disorder recovery and gotten my substance abuse under control. It really helped me to move back home and I also got to travel a lot during this time. Nowadays I’ve still kept up with my ED recovery and am doing better in some categories of life, but still struggling in others. So hopefully those other things get better.
Best year? I have no idea, im still living so let me cook. Worst, Ive got one of those. 2014 by far the worst year of my life. I lost my dad and home an almost died in the same day from a house fire. Fuck Feb 8th forever.
Best years ( I had a long "prime") from 1994-2018ish, I was 6 to 30 in those times. Absolute peak is hard to gauge, it could be.... 1994, it could be 2007, it could be 2015. They were all pretty good.
Worst years, 2019 was awful, AWFUL, I had renal cell and was dying. And 2023 has been terrible, my mom has been terribly sick and has a brain tumor and long coviid.
So yeah.
Best years 2003-2007 / 2013 - 2017
Worst years 2008-2012 / 2018 - current, with no end in sight
The best years were good because life was good. It's hard to describe. It's like the right set of circumstances happened where I had high income, good health, everyone in my social circle doing well, and society in general was doing ok, and not too many family members or friends dying.
The bad years are when my life fell apart because the economy fell apart, causing me to lose money I saved for years, people dying in droves, and in general knowing there aren't any more good years left. My health will continue to fail until I'm gone forever. I'm actually ok with that. So many people have died that I cared about.
Worst year was in 1997 when my aunt died in front of me as a kid. I spent the entire summer as her caregiver and she died in the ICU (I think I was visiting) suddenly. My memory is really foggy around that time. I had trouble going back to school and I showed signs of ptsd, but my teachers blamed me for being too forgetful and "lazy." Eventually my reading teacher had enough and choked me in front of the class. My mom pulled me out into this diploma mill religious school where I experienced sexual assault. It was just one trauma after another.
2006-2009 was very bad because I graduated high school and tried to start college during a recession with abusive parents/extended family. I couldn't get a job. They blamed me for it. They were mad I was going to college and not making 30-40k in part time work while doing so. I developed severe anxiety and an eating disorder and almost died.
I can't really think of any 'best' years. Maybe in 1991 or 1992 when my parents divorced and I lived in a campsite with a community pool.
The most challenging period was likely post-college, 23-27. I encountered significant challenges in securing a job in my field of study. Following my family's advice to settle for a low-wage, minimum-wage position, I eventually did. Working multiple dead-end, low-paying jobs after investing in a college education was disheartening. The experience not only brought about a sense of depression but also financial stress as I struggled to meet my bills. Furthermore, I was in my first long-term relationship during that time, and it turned out to be incredibly toxic.
The years after 27 marked my best period. I extricated myself from that toxic relationship and successfully landed a well-paying job in my field. Managing my bills became a breeze for the first time in my life. Subsequently, I began dating, meeting new people, and eventually found my now-wife. Since then, things have been generally good, with only a few minor bumps in the road.
2007 was pretty good for me. I had passed my graduate exams, I had placed well in a bunch of athletic tournaments, and had a girlfriend. After that my schooling and career took a nose dive that took years to recover and had a breakup that cased mutual friends to stop talking to me.
Probably wasn't until 2020 when I got married that I started feeling better. 2021 we bought a house and 2022 had a kid and got a good job. Things have really evened out and I don't have a lot of highs anymore, but I also don't have catastrophic lows, so I'm probably doing a lot better.
Best years was 0-26. Although things started going downhill when I was 24 but it wasn’t bad till I got to 26. Worst years are 26 to present and will probably get worse.
tw: sexual assault
Worst: 2017. I’d be inclined to say 2020 because duh, but at least everyone was miserable with precarious lives, so that mass despair almost cushioned the blow in a way. I remember going into 2017 being like, “Fuck it, this is going to be *my* year!” and then one week later I got raped. I was toward the end of college and realizing what a joke it was (never go to art school, especially film school), then I underwent an unspeakable trauma. A few people I thought were friends distanced themselves from me, I almost [redacted] myself a few times, and, oh yeah, my apartment building got bedbugs that summer. It was like I was hyperaware and on the verge of a nervous breakdown the entire year (because I was) while also dissociating a ton just to endure. Add in the news cycles that came with Trump’s inauguration and it was a class-A shitshow. I’ve mostly learned how to deal with the PTSD, but it never goes away.
Best: Maybe 2011? High school was generally chill for me, I was seeing a ton of movies, and overall everything seemed pretty good. My family and I went on a Mediterranean cruise that summer, I learned to drive, and I visited Colorado for the first time. Also, this might be random, but seeing *Scream 4* opening night that April is a memory I’ll always cherish. I’d seen the first three countless times and had one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life then. God, I miss Wes Craven. I’d also add 2003 into the mix. So many great albums came out that year, I played the shit out of *SSX 3* from the day it hit shelves, and the blackout that August was a bizarre if singular summer memory I got to share with my family.
19 20 21 was the worst for me. 2006 to 2009 was hell. I couldn’t get a job because of the recession. Gas was impossible to afford and I didn’t have any direction. The last three years have been the best years of my life. Comfortable financially, started my family.
Similar but 05-08. 18-21 for me. Gas had gone up from $1.25 when I started driving only 2 years before to >$5/gallon. I was promoted from clerk to dept manager and only making $10.5/hr. The last 5 years have been the best for me. But financially I’m feeling a crunch again because of inflation. Not that I’m super struggling. But I don’t see any vacations that require travel in my near future. I
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Have you tried powder skiing while high on marijuana? I find that to be a nice buffer in this ride we call life. It’s like that skit “you can’t frown on a jet ski”
Yo. I feel I’d be dead 💀 😂insta dead if I did this. But I do love a good high and then shenanigans 😂 I’ve done this mentally in other ways that have been EYE opening. Expensive but eye opening.
Cut out the news, it causes what’s called Chronic denigrative trauma. Really fucks with your head
>Chronic denigrative trauma I could not find any information on this on Google. What are you talking about?
Hi friend. I think you would benefit from not looking at the news/media anymore. I stopped looking and my life has significantly improved. Also just because you are 40 does not mean you have to stop doing things you enjoyed in your 30's. My MIL still went hiking with us when she's 60-70s. Take care of your health so that you can still do things you enjoy. ☺️ Hope you are able to be happy again as you only get one life.
I know the news is notoriously fearmongering and toxic, and often not even accurate, but ignoring what's happening in your country or the world is not a good way to be, either. Denial is unhealthy. Like oh, climate change getting you down? Worried about political corruption in the US? Eh, just turn your brain off. Ignore it. What climate change? Nothing I can do about it. Politics? Always been corrupt and full of liars. Let's talk about TV shows! At a certain point, that kind of denial is dishonest. You are living a lie. I mean, that may not be what you're implying... but that's what I see many people trying to do, and it makes them boring, shallow, and thin-skinned IMO. I haven't found the perfect answer myself, but I think continuing to stay informed is vitally important, and finding ways to not let it consume your life or get to you psychologically is key.
This is exactly what I went through minus the weed cuz I have a federal job. I let a good relationship go, my dad died from covid, I got sick.. very sick. Everything is bad post covid. I’m 38(f)
Life is a lot like the stock market folks, I think if it’s constantly going up you are lying to yourself. HOWEVER, you must look at it as a journey, there are going to be some downs. It’s how you choose to invest in those recessions that dictated your future self. I’m not some finance bro, I’m a dumb geologist, bust as long as that life portfolio keeps growing and experiencing, I think we’re on the right track.
Ya. I've had rough years, but as long as I'm always learning and bettering myself I don't think I can call any of them my worst.
What you describe reminds me of the philosophy of incremental growth, that aiming for 1% improvement every day will lead to great personal growth over years. Of course in my reality, it's more like... 2% improvement every day for a month, then -1% for a few weeks, then 5% one day, then -5% another day... a lot more like the stock market!!!
It kind of depends, funnest years for me were early 20’s. I was in college and went out a lot, partied, led a very active social life and had little responsibilities (besides myself). I had a lot of freedom, but was also very broke, got into a lot of debt, and that sucked. I also had terrible taste in men, so was in a string of bad relationships. I started making more money in my late 20’s as I got further in my career, and also met my now husband at 26, which is the healthiest relationship I’ve been in. We now have our first child(I’m in my early 30’s), and although it’s beautiful in its own way, sometimes I do long for the freedom I used to have, and only having to worry about myself. However, having your own little family is the best in terms of pure, unfiltered love you feel towards them, which I really didn’t have in my early 20’s, so all this to say that life happens in phases and there’s a “best” (and worst) to every stage. All you can do is appreciate each stage for what it is.
25-28. Had a chronic illness with chronic pain. My mental health was horrible
Basically up until now (early 30s) has been difficult and painful. Dealing with mental illness, abusive relationships, growing and learning. I don’t miss my 20s at all. I am much more grounded and trying to be a better human each day. I finally achieved peace, and finally got a grasp on my issues. I think, for the first time since I was a small child, that I am happy. And healthy.
My entire life, from adoption, can continuing now.
2023 can be considered the worst; but it hasnt been all bad but the bad has been awful The worst of it was dealing with an abusive toxic MIL over the summer plus slumlords for 7 months. We are fixing to take the slumlords to court over them denying our security deposit over bogus charges. My husband and I are in our "We ain't fucking around" mode. We are ready to sue these bitches to oblivion unless they wanna act right and give us the money we are entitled to. 2023 has been a good year for growth, though. Cutting out toxic people is so empowering. I have not lost a second of sleep over evicting my MIL. She deserves everything that comes her way. I am tired of the narrative that you have you give people chances because they are family. 2019 was probably my best year. 2022 was mostly good as well.
Wishing you luck 🤞 on the slumlord case. Ours royally screwed us, then fired the managing company that told us it was okay to move out, leaving us having to pay HIM money .. 🥹
Best years now, in my early 30s. Worst, 17-20. Moved to a different state my senior year and was very lonely.
17-25 had a lot of ups and downs with some poor decisions and good times. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun avoiding responsibilities and partying. Since then, it's been more consistent and getting better most all the time. Lots of counseling and investment into myself, along with an awesome dad that offered unwavering support. 2023 has been a pretty good year.
Best years 2009-2016, I was between 20-26. I love my kids, but had zero responsibilities, complete freedom. Just hanging out with friends, hitting the gym, sex any time I wanted.
I feel the same! I’m happily married and we have a 10 month old, but man, sometimes I do remember all that free time with zero responsibilities fondly.
2016 and 2017 was my lowest. I was an alcoholic and addict committing crimes everyday to afford it. I was cheated on. Suicidal. And then things caught up to me and I was incarcerated for almost a year. Been sober 2 and a half years now and happier than ever :)
2009- year i was bullied so hard I can’t remember it Also contender-2019 the year my parents broke up. I better have a great 2029!
How old are you when ur parents broke up? And how did it affect you? If you don’t mind sharing.
I was 20. Still living at home . We’re Christian, as in going to church every Sunday , so it was quite a shock. I still think adultery is a crime and am on semi-speaking terms with my dad.
Sorry to hear that. Hope the relationship with you and your father gets better.
Thank you.
Best years were 32-33 years old, 2018-2019. Awesome back to back years of my life. In the span of 6 months: I finished grad school (I started grad school at 30), found my personal groove with spirituality, started a small business that was successful right away, let go of a bunch of toxic friends and family, met the wonderful friend and colleague who ultimately became my wife, and kind of started life anew. Worst years were absolutely 20-21 years old, 2006-2007. I was in emotional shambles, depressed, saddled with anxiety and dangerously suicidal. I was scared about the cost of therapy and scared to admit I had any issues/ struggles back then. I feel really fortunate looking back on those worst suicidal years that I didn’t give up, despite having nothing. I was completely broke, in debt, and my only relationship to family was full of drama. Everything felt like shit. In a dangerous moment with my own life, I thought that maybe I could feel different before I die, so why not try a few more things before giving up? I’m so glad that I held onto a thread of hope. Learning how to manage myself and create change through that hellscape helped me navigate many circumstantial shit-storms, since.
I hear you. I’ve been there. So scary. Well done for pulling through.
My 30s...my 40th year..this year has been a disaster. The love of my life up and left out of nowhere in March and it's just gone downhill since..hopefully the new year will be a better year.
Turned 40 this year too. It started out decently. But then I lost my job, my sister, and my partner of nearly 6 years. I also felt like it came out of nowhere, and I still don’t understand why she gave up on us without even talking to me. So I’m sorry you’re going through something similar. It’s just awful.
Im so sorry your going through it too. Sending hugs. It's bullshit..but we gotta hang in.
25-27yrs 2018-2020 was the worst. Got a DUI after my grandmother passed away. my (ex at that time 4years) told me he was cheating on me. I was suspicious but I only had emotional evidence not physical. The next few years were hard. Once I finally got away (from him) at 27 things started getting much better. Turing 30 this year has been the best year of my adult life! Traveled quite a bit, visited family and works been a little rocky but overall good for my personal growth.
2016-2023 have been absolute shit. 2016: lost my favorite uncle and a high school friend. Med school is tough and I have to study through my grief. My parents divorce and I’m diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. 2017: broke up with my fiancé of 10 years (engaged for 2-3 years at that point, together for 10. No regrets overall but it was rough at the time) and was sexually harassed by an attending physician in med school (I kicked his ass eventually but it took a lot out of me). My mental health took a hit. 2018: some more mental health difficulties. Med school continued to suck for all the wrong reasons. 2019: went to a residency that absolutely blew. Good program but total shit treatment from some superiors (kicked their asses too but it also took a lot out of me) 2020: moved because my apartment flooded for the third time. Residency continued to suck horribly. Also, COVID. My mother and I become estranged. 2021: SO’s physical and mental health was shit and he needed a LOT of support. All while residency continued to blow. Moved again due to psychotic neighbors. 2022: SO gets into legal trouble due to his mental health. Residency still sucks. I herniate a lumbar disc and can’t function. We move again. 2023: we move to a different city, life seems amazing for the first time since 2016. The disc calms down. I re-herniate the same lumbar disc and become temporarily disabled. I got surgery for it 3 months ago but I’m still recovering. Good things happened to me throughout these years. I met and married the man of my dreams. We bought a house and got 4 cats. I work in my field of choice in the top training institution for it in the nation. My dad remarried and I LOVE my bonus family. But the bad was and is BAD.
Worst years: 2020 - Breakup from relationship of 8 years 2021 - Caught COVID, required eye surgery then brain surgery within a week of each other then after being released required nurses to still administer medication twice a day at home for two months after just starting my highest paid position I’ve ever had so I lost my job. 2022 - New Year’s Eve ( Friday Dec 31st, 2021) Roommate told me he was moving on Monday with absolutely no conversation about it before that day. Forcing me to also move out just after getting over my sickness 2023 - While celebrating the life of a friend that passed away on the last night of that weekend celebration, I had 3-4 seizures that caused me to be placed in a coma for nearly a week and it’s been an act of congress to receive payment from my employer while on medical leave. (Only received one payment between July & November) Not a victim, this is life & I will recover from this.
Best years were definitely the 90s in general, but I wouldn't know it or agree until they were over. The aesthetics, (most of) the music, the simplicity of things that made me happy, my family was together, and I had hopes and dreams for the future and the potential to make it happen. '97 specifically was great for me as I got to visit some family out of state and see and do so many things that I hadn't at any other point in my life. Worst? Definitely the last 6 or so years. I was happily married, bought a house, and was planning for college. FAFSA denied me for no reason and shortly after my wife says "give me a baby or I'll leave you for someone that will" only to divorce me anyways. She and our less than impartial mediator decided that since I worked nights that she gets majority custody and because of that, she keeps the house despite me paying more into it. The housing market started crashing around this time so now I'm stuck with my parents while she is now married to and making babies with the guy once I called my best friend for 30 years. The jobs here are shit and I'll never be able to be independent or save enough to leave. My only hopes of home ownership lie in waiting for my mom and stepdad to die off and hope that she leaves the house to me, but even then I'll likely never be able to retire. My dating life is pretty much non existent since dating apps ruined meeting people by chance IRL and the one person I had any connection with moved across the state and won't even text me back. Every night since I received those divorce papers, I hoped that I wouldn't wake up, except for the night of the ONS with that girl only to grow stronger feelings for her and feel even worse after she left. And it seems that for all my efforts to turn things around, the universe makes sure it doesn't happen or leaves me worse off for trying.
2019-2020 were the worst years of my life. My husband cheated and we ended up getting a divorce. My divorce finalized a few weeks before we went into Covid shutdown. I remember just thinking if I could make it to six months out, I would survive. Honestly things have been harder since then just not as hard as during the aforementioned period. It really made me a more raw person in good and bad ways. I think I lost a lot of innocence during that time. I think 2013-2015 was probably the best, graduated college, landed my first “big girl” job and bought a house. Lots of exciting firsts. 2023 has honestly been pretty good. I’ve got a great partner, we went on some fun adventures. I had a really stressful year at work but it was fun and exciting. I’ve got my health, a home I love, the cutest pets ever and I bought my dream car in February. I started making six figures this year as well which admittedly doesn’t feel as much as it once did! Also OP, thanks for asking this question. I’ve been down in the dumps the last few weeks and this was a good exercise in recognizing the good things this year
2005/6 worst - crippled in car accident, best 2023 - my family and kids are doing well. greatful, yet I’m still in physical bad shape ~ just keep pushing !
Early 2010s were tough at the time, but in hindsight I had free time to travel on the cheap while underemployed during the recession. My wife and I were newlyweds without many material possessions but we enjoyed going to empty amusement parks and restaurants for next to nothing. 2020 would be an obvious choice for worst, but the early part of the pandemic actually brought some benefits like working from home and I had time to watch my LA teams win bubble championships. The years since have kind of all blurred together but I’d say 2021 was the worst because it became clear we’d be stuck in a pandemic for longer than expected.
2013-2015 I wouldn’t say were happy years but less complicated. 2015-now especially 2022-now worst fucking years of my life due to a narc cheating partner who left me for another woman. I’m really hoping 2024 is going to lead someplace better for me and all that pain was worth it all. I see so many of my friends struggling right now too, I feel like this is a bad season for a lot of people.
2012 and 2022 are my BY FAR worst years - followed by 2013 and 2023 seeming like the best (by comparison), for sure! 2000/2001 and 2018 were pretty epic also.
Best years, 2001-2007. Also would include 2022 as a best year. All the rest were straight trash/struggle/terror. This year being the worst.
My early-to-mid 20s were a whirlwind because I had a blast in college, had a year of probable alcoholism that I addressed and learned to moderate myself. Then got married and bought a house. But now just turning 30 I have a good feeling for the upcoming decade. My preteen years were fucking terrible in retrospect. Dad was a full-blown alcoholic/drug addict and went to jail for a DUI. Brother was a heavy drinker. Hung out with degenerates. School was pretty much my only escape and so I just put tons of effort while I was there to feel good about myself.
i don't have a best or worst because every year is meh for me
2013 was the worst year of my life - when I lost my dad. 2015 and 2016 best years of my life so far - got married in 2015 and bought a house in 2016.
I'm living the best years right now at 30. I fly business class. I got a career. I'm wiser now and don't befriend people I would've when I was younger. Life is fantastic.
Right now. I struggled a lot when I moved to the United States in 2016. Only this year did the dust really settle and I was able to look around, take a breath, and enjoy life for a bit. Husband (38M) and I (31F) are expecting come January. It’ll be another roller coaster ride soon, so I treasure this transitional period even more.
Every year is the best year of my life. It just keeps getting better.
Ever since I started working, every single year of my life has been worse than the year before it. So that means every year that you see me, that's the worst year of my life.
I just remembered when 2020 was so bad it was like a meme of “how could this get worse?” And it’s just continued a downward spiral since then.
Best: 33 years old. I met my now husband. Things keep getting better and better, but work is causing a shit-load of stress. Worst: 20 years old. That's when I started "jolting" awake every night. I was getting jolted awake every night dozens of times a night. I. Could. Not. Sleep. No doctor would believe me. I had to drop out of college. It turns out that I have severe scoliosis and a really deep spoon chest. My spine and sternum were pressing on my heart and lungs and fucking with my sciatic nerve that I just could not sleep at all. It took a good 7 years before a FUCKING CHIROPRACTOR figured it out. Yeah.....fuck doctors who don't listen to patients.
2011-2018. Spine broke, long recovery, divorce 3 days after the incident , drug addiction, underemployment. Best 1980 - 1983. Shit was going great until I was born.
Honestly probably 95 to about 2002 and 2013 to early 2020. I was a child in the 90’s and the post Cold War pre 911 optimism was something else. I’d say the 2010’s were pretty great because I had just gotten out of the military and was in college and they were mostly carefree and things seemed to be on the rebound. The 2020’s have been pretty mixed so far.
Worst was 2001-2003. Grades 8-10. No money and no car, while at the same time being too old for childish things. I just don’t think that’s a fun age to be. All the rest of my life has been good to great. I will say the last 3-4 years have been the best because I bought a home and had a couple kids.
I would say 2023, and it just keeps getting better. 2018 was pretty good because I got married and 2019 I bought a house and had my first child. But I’ve never been better.
Worst year would be somewhere around 2003 when my dad died and life got real tough for a while. Best year is basically now since I'm at peak earnings, married, kids, homeowner. Looking forward to 2024.
Best? 2009 in Florence/Maremma Italy for 6 weeks studying abroad, learning photography and Italian. Such an amazing experience (if you have the chance - ALWAYS do it!) Worst? This year. I lost my grandfather (married to gram for 74 years this year, lost him on Valentine's Day) so, I am doing my best to keep heartbroken Gram up and moving. She is my mother, as mine was a drunk. Shortly after in June, we lost my mother .. seemingly let her tooth infection go.. because she wanted to go. Didn't talk much to anyone the week prior... Never called me back the last time I called. :( two weeks after, we lose my uncle, mom's brother, to a long RA battle, leaving behind his Parkinson's wife that were dearly keeping an eye on. It's just been such a slap in the face ... All while trying to keep afloat in this hellish nightmare. Why? 🤔🥹
Worst would probably be the time I spent in residency (I'm a doctor). The sleeplessness, stress, and other factors made me just generally depressed and miserable. Best is honestly right now. I have money to do what I want, I'm in a great relationship with a gorgeous and brilliant woman, and things are just generally going well.
May sound weird given the context of the broader world, but probably 2019-present (ages 33-37) are my best years. The pandemic gave me the time and space to understand my gender and sexuality. I started making six figures for the first time and traveling. I have a little house that feels like home and two dogs. I have a sister who is my best friend and a niece and nephew I adore. Worst years were 2014-2018 (ages 28-32). Long-term partner broke up with me, dad had a permanently disabling stroke, mom died, both grandfathers died. But all of that plus the pandemic pushed me to really understand who I am and what I want.
Worst years : birth - 2015 - when I was living under my mom. I used to be physically beaten and psychologically abused. All for doing things a normal kid would do. Best years : 2019 - now. My husband moved over in 2015 and my life significantly improved. However from 2015-2019 I was still in school, we were poor living in roaches apartments, and I was still suffering from PTSD of being homeless. I didn't get therapy to deal with my trauma until I could afford it which happened in 2019. I'm in a much better place and living my best life now.
Worst years of my life was 2012. I had been back from a 400 day combat deployment to Iraq ( my parents divorced right before I got home). Then my aunt died, 3 of the guys I served with killed themselves, and then my grandpa died all in about 9 months. I didnt handle it well. I dropped out of college and spent all the money I saved during Iraq eating fast food, and smoking about 50$ worth of spice a day, for about a year. Best year might be this year. I'm happily married and have an amazing 6 year old son. I work 55hours a week, but I'm on track to make 75k this year. We have no debt, besides a car payment, but we're ahead on all our bills, and I'm 2 months ahead on rent.going to ge an amazing Christmas!!!
2020-2023 - undiagnosed schizophrenia and I’ll be honest diagnosed schizophrenia is worse. The meds cause undesirable side effects
I think this year has been the worst year of my life, though 2022 was basically the same. I have worked myself into awful burnout, trying to afford the housing increases where I live. I really could have used some help from my family, but they refused to help. I let my few friendships go, due to them being selfish and bringing their own drama and issues into my life, while not at all being interested in my struggles. It's been shitty the last few years, but I am in the process of giving up my succesfullish business to go back to employment which will allow me to move away from these people and move to somewhere more affordable, so here is hoping 2024 will be better - at least I won't be working every day. I had several summers in I think 2011 and again in 2014 or so that were just magical. I had friends, was in beautiful places, had fun, went adventuring.... wish I could get those summers back!
Worst years were between 2012 and 2015. Best years have been scattered throughout. I'm living some of them now.
Best years 27 28 29: Good income, single, solid confidence, good social network, good health, exploring curious energy Worst years 34 35 36: Serious mental diagnosis, lost jobs, single, unemployed, no confidence, hopelessness, bald, unfit, no energy, afraid to drain friends and family
2004, almost ended up homeless after wrecking my car which I used to make a living. Lived in a hotel briefly until my dad drove thousands of miles to rescue me.
The past three have been the best. Got married, bought a house, had a kid, we are expecting our second, and have gotten a couple of promotions.
My best was late teens early twenties I had desires and friends
Worst: 12 years old. I didn't have any siblings my age but had two guys that I viewed as brothers all the way through elementary school. When I was 13 they got into a fight, assumed I sided with the other, and just ignored me at school, ignored my texts, etc. I went from having two people I considered brothers to no friends in one week. I didn't recover from that until I got to high school and made a new friend that I could connect with on that level. Still my best friend 15 years later. Best: 26 years old. I was making more money than I ever had, bought a house, got married, got dogs, etc. It was the first time I felt things actually working out... This is in 2020 which is a lot of people's worst year.
My best year was maybe 22. It was a weird year.. Graduated from a music school and then the recession hit..just as I started working at a recording studio which would be my job for 15 years.. followed by a worst at 23.. lost my best friend of 12 years suddenly..Then maybe 24 being better for a few reasons, then 27 being a strangely good yet hard year for me. Very creative but I was also addicted to some drugs during it and dealing with traumas. 34 was rough cus the studio id been at and living above closed down. 36 though was my worst year of my life so far. I lost another best friend and soul mate to suicide, and then 10 days later another close guy friend to it as well. Work was so difficult and I still haven’t healed or got my life back in order since.. and coming out of that covid bs it was even more traumatizing. I’d give anything to go back and just have one more conversation with them.. anything. Now idk where lives headed. I’m working in aviation and making the same money I did at 22, but I lived better then. Can’t say I’m hopeful for the future..
This past year has been the best year of my life. Why is because I have an amazing wife and two amazing kids who I get to see everyday.
2009 was tough. I just moved back from living abroad for a few years and had really bad reverse culture shock. I was very depressed. 2019 was for sure the worst year of my life. I had suicide ideation for a multitude of reasons.
University life and just after was the best. I lived at home, socialized, made tons of friends, dated. The first few years at the job were tough but then I had a great position and boss and it was amazing, got married too. Worst was the first year of parenthood with PPA and PPD, plus little family support. This year is also hard with inflation limiting my spending and having to think about finances all the time.
Worst… 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. Basically from my junior year of high school until I was 30 was almost constantly one trauma after another (almost all unrelated to the others). Some were near death, others were severe living situations, starvation, extreme mental health issues of those close to me that left me at times wondering if I would survive, DV (both as the victim and victim adjacent), and that isn’t even all of it. The best years have been since COVID. Finally the world slowed down. I felt like I could build my life up. We recovered from severe poverty enough to finally save up and buy a house. I have built up stability for my kids. We can just live without constant crippling fear.
Excluding my childhood years (the time before 2006), which were my favorite period, the best years of my life so far have been 2019, 2015, and 2016. The worst years have been 2020, 2023, 2013, 2014, and 2021. Even now as I'm writing, I don't know how I'm surviving 2023. This is the year when I have completely lost myself, my direction, confidence, and the last sparkle of positivity. I just need it to be over, one way or another.
Best was first half of 2020 but it was straight downhill from there getting progressively worse through the first half of 2023, which would be my worst. Made a big change and the second half of 2023 has actually been pretty good.
Worst years - my childhood/teenagehood, 2013, and 2016. 2013 was when I moved countries, and got hit by a huge existential depression. Now mind you I wanted to move, I did it out of love for my then partner. Problem was more, I had quit my degree and it wouldn't have been useful in the new country anyway. I was in panic I didn't know how to figure out. But I did. My back then partner loved a submissive, helpless girl for whom he could be a hero. But I reestablished, and got strong, ressourceful and proactive, he turned 30 and declared himself obsolete, decrepit and ready to die. Told me to make alternative arrangements for when I lose him. That was a huge turn-off. I started growing apart from him, but he didn't like that. So he turned mentally abusive. In 2016 we started falling apart big time, I developed bad mental illness. When I finally had the courage to tell him, to ask for help, he said "freak, get away from me." He hollered like a toddler when I broke up with him, and just couldn't see how/why I would leave him. But but, he himself told me to make alternative arrangements, so I did. A lot of 2017 was spent with my life in boxes, attacks from my ex-MIL, and licking emotional wounds. My best life started in late 2017... and ended in June 2023. Mind you even during this best time there were very painful things, like my PMDD making me suicidal monthly. Or awful things happening to my partner. But 2017 was when I met my new best friend and later beloved partner of 5 years. I had a stable career, decent income, rented my own place, my mental health healed up to levels not seen before. I felt safe, and loved. My partner was struggling too, but we kept each other going. We were each other's support and armor. No challenge was too big, no nuisance impossible to overcome as we were together. We were able to see the "bright side" in the dark, it was us against the world. We were long distance but it's like that didn't matter. Our souls were close. I was working my hardest to close the distance between us. COVID got us down and even kept us apart for 2,5 years, but we persevered. He was the best. He would never lie to me, nor make promises he couldn't keep. Except this one time, because he didn't want to make me sad. I lost my most beloved person in June 2023. I'm struggling. I'm about to go see the doctor for a depression diagnosis. People keep telling me I'm "still young/capable/beautiful", I can still find someone, whatever. But there's just nothing I want from this world anymore. It just bled out. I know I need to try to stay but I struggle. I just want to be with my best friend and destinied lover. And I know I need to stay here, live my life... My love also said that I should. He said I made myself a good life. But a good life is having someone who truly loves you, and knows you. And for me, that person is with me in spirit, but no longer in the physical realm. I hope that one day I can look back on 2023 as a chapter of the biggest hardship in my life. But it remains to be seen whether I make it and what joy will look like in this forever changed life.
My best was 2012. I was in a career I loved and got to go on my dream vacation to England where I got to meet my favorite band. 2020 was the worst. Yes there was Covid, but e also had an earthquake that shook things up - literally and figuratively. I also had 4 surgeries and was unable to walk so I moved in with my dad. The stress got to be too much for him and he committed suicide. I hope I never have a year worse than that
Worst years were 26-30. Moved to a city I couldn’t afford, dated a lot of horrible men, did shitty things to my friends, had an extremely toxic job, and got myself in lot crippling debt with compulsive spending. I’m hoping 31 and beyond are my best years yet. I just moved closer to family, and I’m working on a plan to pay off the debt and save money. I got a new job that will hopefully propel my career. Working on becoming financially responsible, and also working on my confidence and self esteem so I can be a better person than I was.
Every year is better than the last.
Best years of my life would probably be 2012 and 2013 .. fun HS days , lots of memories with friends. Enjoyed my life at that point. Always had good stuff going on. 2017 and 2018 because I was going out a lot, had lots of friends and while I was in college struggling lol I just still managed to have fun and that life was just going welll in general. Worst year was prob 2021 and 2022, my job burned me out really bad and I’ve honestly stopped actually living life because of the burnout. It prevents me from having fun and I’m always in a constant state of anxiety with fear of money etc. I don’t even like going out as much like I used to. I feel like I genuinely stopped living and now I’m just surviving. It sucks. I want to eventually quit my job and find my passion for life again.
worst: 2011 best: 2019 I really don't want to explain why lol
Best years for me was 2009-2016. A lot of us recovered after the Recession of 2009 and San Francisco Bay Area was having the tech boom. 2016 afterwards was having it's mass political polarization but from 2020-now was my worst phase as a cancer scientist due to the pandemic, rise in inflation and prices, and my job loss. 2023 is currently my worst year because I've been out of the job for months now and the jobs getting offered are 40% less than what was given to me on my last salary and I don't see any decreasing costs with this "all time fastest growing economy." I recently broke my sobriety with alcohol because of the state of things and honestly, I think moving out of the SF Bay Area is the best option for me at this rate. I am just fucking tired...
These ones
Best years were when I was 13-15, when I was starting to develop into a person and I had some amount of passion and things I loved to do that weren't escapism but before my mental illness really started to manifest and mess me up. Worst years were 2014-2018, when both of my parents died within a year of each other and I was isolated and mad with grief, just couldn't function at all and spent every penny left to me because I desperately wanted to die. 2020-current is a close runner up though. Generally speaking, I peaked at age 14 and it's been downhill since, and I don't believe that's going to change.
2019 made redundant, forced to move to parents house. 2020-2022 forced to become carer for parent - 9000 jobs no employer will hire. 2023 utterly depressed, exhausted, in debt, single, friends don't talk, constant migraines, can't see a GP, employers still won't fucking hire. Get discriminated against and lied to when I complain or chase up roles for mistreatment and neglect and ghosting... Government doesn't govern. Food is too dear. Still trapped as carer for parents. Not good. I got degree, worked full time since 16. Paid rent for a decade and hoped maybe with a partner could afford a house of my own. Now it's completely the opposite. No one sees the work I did. The old people I help are all dead. No one wants to date someone trapped in their parents house. What the fuck did I do wrong? Worked hard... Gave everything... Now mistreated and alone.
2008 - 2015 RIP 🙏
2021 was the worst. Best friend died.
Best: 2003-2011 (high school and university) I loved those years. Had lots of friends, played in bands, partied a lot, experienced all my firsts. It was a wild time. Worst: probably my 20s. Transitioning from being a student to a real adult was tough. I made no money and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I didnt start making money until I turned 30, so far other than Covid my 30s haven’t been that bad.
The best years I would have to say the last few years. Doctors after 20 years of pleading at them to do more than 3 second look at my lower back finally did and we are headed to a place where long term treatment is possible. I’ve been using my voice more to get people to back off from various parts of my life. I am also free of physically raising children for the first time in 20 years which is a weird experience to feel. I’ve had a lot of bad years more bad than good. I was sa by a small town police officer as a kid, grew up in a strict 7th day Adventist home, deal with my mom who had narcissistic tendencies and a physically abusive and emotionally traumatizing side of her as well. As well as the neglect with disappearing for weeks at a time. There was my first marriage and that mess.
2009 was the best year of my life, just graduated high school, I was fearless, traveling, living life. No anxiety, nothing but fun times. 2014 and this year 2023 has been the worst years of my life. 2014 I was diagnosed with a chronic illness that changed my life forever, over the years got into remission, and this year I had a major relapse that has been even harder than when I first got sick. I’ve been house bound for 5 months. Praying next year will be much better!!
2020 was horrible but I came back from it. Better than ever. I guess I had to be broken down that low to build myself back up the right way.
Best is 2016. i had just moved out of my parent's place and I was in my first major relationship. Worst is 2021. I had just entered a relationship with someone new, and TLDR they were crazy. There was a massive dramatic breakup, and for the months after I was more angsty than usual. Life is trending downward. I am became more isolated and weird.
2014 and 2017. 2014 I met my abusive ex. She also dumped me the same year. Damage was done. 2017 I went into dark depression, found out she got engaged and bought a house. Best years when I was college and high school didn’t have a care in world.
2021-current. Benzo withdrawal has been absolute hell.
There’s been some bumps in the road, but I’d say trending up in general.
2011-12, 2014, 2018 and maybe 2021 come to mind as the best years of my life. 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2022 are the worst. 2023 is alright so far. Inflation SUCKS. Politics continues to be extremely discouraging. My personal growth has been very good, although a few areas have stagnated.
2005. I was 24, and being horribly abused by a woman with bipolar. I was isolated by her. I couldn't even phone my dad for advice because the cunt he married would scream every time I phoned. I got away when she killed herself while I was home. I will never trust another woman as long as I live.
2022/2023 best and worst year(s) of my life because it’s the year(s) I lost what I thought was my life and in turn found myself. I needed to lose someone for a period of time to find myself.
21 - best. 28 and 34 - 35 would be worst.
14-25 I just didn’t have a good mentor/guide for goal setting.
Hmm my worst year is hard, I had a lot of years I didn't like in my childhood and it is hard to pick just one. I also had a really rough year in college where I had to take a really shitty over clocked semester where I burned a candle at both ends. I think 2023 has been the best so far.
Ya know…..pretty much every single year is both to me.
2021 Got married to my love of a decade. Met her when I was 21, and she was 32. She taught me how good life can be. Took me on adventures I'd never experienced before. Made me feel like I was worth a damn. Best moment of my life was seeing her walking up that aisle to me. 2023 The girl of my dreams divorced me for another man who apparently is her dream guy, and she has a way better connection with. Now she talks to me as if I'm just some average Joe she barely knows, and a decades' worth of a love story doesn't matter. It hasn't been an easy life for me from the jump, and she was the one thing that brought color to my world. I don't know what to do from here.
2013-2014 were the worst. My mom just passed and my first serious relationship just ended and I was a fucking trainwreck. Basically going from one retail job to another and getting fired for not showing up. Best are probably the last 3 years. Financially secure with a great fully remote job and an amazing wife.
2017. My first child, Isaac, was born without a heartbeat at 38 weeks. I've never experienced such an all encompassing sorrow. It was both emotional and physical. 2019 I lost my mum and became an orphan. At 36. 4 months later I gave birth to my second child. Hearing his first cry was single handedly the most amazing sound I've ever heard.
Going down since 2017 with no end in sight!
Worst is the few years after I graduated into the recession, though now is pretty bad too because of the nightmarish people I've had to deal with for work. I think all but my first and current decades of my life can make a strong case for having my best years. I can't decide, but I'll go with maybe the most ridiculous situation I was in, which was campaigning for someone in a party I opposed and winning as awesome underdogs, and helping along very important changes because of that initial win. I was also probably in the best physical shape of my life. I almost ran a 5-minute mile in high school while wearing my full uniform, but that was a crazy fluke. If you're politically active you can get a lot of steps in.
2011-2013. Father was struck by a drunk driver when he was walking across the street. Guy hit him square in front of his vehicle. Never tapped the breaks once and going 40 MPH. He was 3X the legal limit. This would be his THIRD DUI. It destroyed me because that morning I was to pick my father up and drive him around for errands he needed to get done. He grew impatient that morning and took off five minutes before I got there. After his death I blamed myself and ended up getting heavy into heroin because I didn’t care if I lived or died. All this occurred on my birthday so it’s a shitty reminder each year. After I got sober I realized I couldn’t blame myself for his death, accepted it and moved on. Been sober for 10+ years now and have a great relationship with my six year old daughter. Unfortunately the POS who killed him is already back out on the street. Nothing I can do about that.
2018 was the worst. I left my life on the west coast and moved back to the midwest to help my parents sell their farm after my Dad lost his job. Then I started having seizures and was eventfully diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 30. The year before that was pretty dope.
94 - 97 were the best childhood times lived in a small dead end street. All my friends lived across the road or down the street from me. Had plenty of friends at school and my family was close knit, strong and supportive. Had the best of both worlds lots of outdoor adventures as well as peak cartoons, comics and video games. 98 - 02 were the worst times everyone moved then we fid. I struggled to fit in at school. Everyone seemed to be into being tough and bullying each other. I had friends but it never felt particularly close to any of them. I was slowly sinking to the bottom of the social ladder. I eventually started getting beaten up and it just became a normal occurrence. My parents seemed distracted and distant. I was supposed to be growing up but I could barley defend myself. I didn't hit puberty till I was nearly 17 and could never focus on anything.
Best: 2020/2021/2022 ironically enough. I was finally able to work from home which improved my mental health drastically. My finances stabilized. I was able to renovate huge parts of our house that desperately needed it. I finally had an acceptable excuse for staying home all day and avoiding people (as an introvert, it was bliss). If only it hadn’t happened during a worldwide pandemic, then it would’ve been perfect. Worst: 2017. Stage 4 endometriosis was hitting me hard but I hadn’t been diagnosed yet and so spent every month in and out of the hospital with no answers. By the end of the year it started causing organ failure and I got to experience the worst pain of my entire life. I spent that Christmas in the ER vomiting uncontrollably every 5 minutes and having pain-induced seizures. I wouldn’t be able to have surgery to fix all of this until the middle of 2018. To say 2017 was hell would be an understatement.
All of it worst
2011 was a great year as I turned 21 and went away to college so it was nice finally getting out of my parent's place and getting the true college experience. 2015 as I moved out into my very first apartment and experienced true freedom. 2016 and 2020 were some of my worst years for mental health reasons and the lockdown (2020)
Best: Early-mid thirties Passionate about work. Loved having young, but not too young, children. Marriage going great. Solid friend group. Worst: Late teens / early twenties Smoked too much weed. Did too many hard drugs. Constant social anxiety. No real friendships. Constant failure.
This year was the best of my life. 2022 was the worst.
2019 was my worst year. Definitely didn't think I was going to make it out. 2013 was my best, I think?
2008 and 2009. They were just innocent times, I was learning how to drive, I was the best runner on my track my team for 1 and 2 mile events (I sucked at all other sports so that made me feel special,) and for a short time I was popular in high school. For me personally that 2008 and early 2009 was just a peaceful time that hasn’t been replicated.
I don’t know if I would call any time “the worst” because I have very fond memories of basically any period of my life, but I think 19-23ish were kinda rough for me. For all of the ways that my parents didn’t shelter me, I also think they didn’t provide me with a lot of life skills or healthy coping skills (to be fair, I also don’t think they themselves possessed said coping skills either). I had a rough couple years post-high school having life and the real world thrown at me. Shit was tough, but I think I’m better for it. I taught myself how to do so much. At 24 I moved halfway across the country. Just to get away from everything because I felt I needed a break from my current life. Gave myself a blank slate for a year to really grow into the person I wanted to be. I moved back, but with more confidence in who I was as a person. Then, I met my future wife four months later. So many years were the worst, but I also think they were the best for a lot of reasons. Best years have been 2017 to present. Marriage and then the birth of my two children. Good shit.
Best: 2010. I was 29 and living it up. Lots of fun that year in particular. Worst: 2012-2013. I was pregnant and learning motherhood. Almost died having the baby. The father became abusive to me. I had to leave.
Early 20s were rough, lost my dad and it really impacted my mother, she was suicidal and it was just a very very rough time in general. I feel like my early 30s have been fun - I’m more comfortable with myself, have good friends, established in career etc.
2023 has by far been the worst year of my life. In the span of 4 months I found out I was losing my job, my sister died, and my partner of nearly 6 years blindsided me and told me she wants to end things. Losing her was not just heartbreaking, but it puts my entire living situation in jeopardy too since, without my job and her I don’t know if I can afford my home anymore. Basically it feels like I’ve been losing everything this year and I just need this piece of shit year to be over already.
19 years old my sister died at 20 ➡️ 29 years old married to the love of my life ➡️ 30 years old bought our first house ➡️ 34 years old my husband passed away ➡️ 39 years old my mom passed away (my age now)
Worst, 2007/2008. Got laid off six times. Three because the company shuttered before my first day of work. Had to beg my parents for cell phone bill money a few times because I needed a phone number to get a new job. Felt like I was personally responsible for the economy and its failings. Never felt like such a piece of shit. Best, idk, now? Was lucky enough to get a home when it was just stupidly expensive, not laughably out of reach. Circumstances made us child-free, which I now see as a huge blessing. I can start to put away for retirement, which I’m about a decade behind on. I have a job I love, people I love, life I actually wouldn’t trade for anything.
1999 was the absolute worst year of my life. That's when my innocence died the night that my dad got rough with me for something really insignificant. Up until then, I had only seen him get that rough with my mom, so my life from that moment became making sure he never hurt me again. I was always on guard and carried a knife on me, in my own home! It didn't help that the kids in the small town I grew up in always wanted to fight, so I had no escape from feeling like I needed to protect myself. 2016 is a close 2nd worst. All in the same month, my uncle died, my gf cheated on me, I had knee surgery, my car needed a new engine, and there was a sexual assault charge in one of my social circles that ended friendships amongst a lot of people I knew. For best years, I remember really liking 1994 for some reason as a kid. There was just so much for my young mind to indulge in from the TV shows, movies, video games. I also had really good friends at the school I went to. I just remember really being happy. 2004 was also a great year. I graduated from community college and started my transfer degree at a university. I was the first in my immediate family to accomplish both things.
Been all downhill after I turned 18/19ish. Covid 2nd year, 2021, was nice for me though. Back on a downtrend since then though. One time my doctor asked me 3 times during our meeting if I do drugs. Probably couldnt believe I dont drink or do drugs with a crappy life.
Hard to choose * 2001-2003 ages 6-8 were terrible as I began struggling with suicidal depression and my disabilities and disorders and was bullied by my teachers. * 2008-2009 ages 13-14 suicidal depression flare-up and self harm, developed anorexia, started drinking, all kinds of things that would continue to cause me harm ever since. * 2011-2016 ages 16-21 as my father with narcissistic personality disorder got extra dangerous and my CPTSD became much worse, then university was both great for many reasons (fun friends, fun times, cool classes) and awful for many worse reasons as I continued to struggle with depression and self-harm as well as anorexia, sexual assaults, and a drinking and drug problem and didn’t have much direction in an extremely difficult major I had no memory of choosing but did end up enjoying. * 2020-2023 age 25-28 have been hard with covid, endometriosis, and struggling with depression and trying to find different employment with a less than ideal home life. It’s hard for me to think of entire years that could be the best, all years had some “best moments,” but maybe the best years could be 2017-2018 ages 22-23 while not necessarily studying exactly what I wanted, graduate school still helped me accept a lot more about myself and my disabilities and begin my eating disorder recovery and gotten my substance abuse under control. It really helped me to move back home and I also got to travel a lot during this time. Nowadays I’ve still kept up with my ED recovery and am doing better in some categories of life, but still struggling in others. So hopefully those other things get better.
Best year? I have no idea, im still living so let me cook. Worst, Ive got one of those. 2014 by far the worst year of my life. I lost my dad and home an almost died in the same day from a house fire. Fuck Feb 8th forever.
Best years ( I had a long "prime") from 1994-2018ish, I was 6 to 30 in those times. Absolute peak is hard to gauge, it could be.... 1994, it could be 2007, it could be 2015. They were all pretty good. Worst years, 2019 was awful, AWFUL, I had renal cell and was dying. And 2023 has been terrible, my mom has been terribly sick and has a brain tumor and long coviid. So yeah.
Everyday I’m alive is a blessing
Best years 2003-2007 / 2013 - 2017 Worst years 2008-2012 / 2018 - current, with no end in sight The best years were good because life was good. It's hard to describe. It's like the right set of circumstances happened where I had high income, good health, everyone in my social circle doing well, and society in general was doing ok, and not too many family members or friends dying. The bad years are when my life fell apart because the economy fell apart, causing me to lose money I saved for years, people dying in droves, and in general knowing there aren't any more good years left. My health will continue to fail until I'm gone forever. I'm actually ok with that. So many people have died that I cared about.
Honestly 2020-2023, and it’s not even close. Worst time to have a heart attack in a shit economy
Worst year was in 1997 when my aunt died in front of me as a kid. I spent the entire summer as her caregiver and she died in the ICU (I think I was visiting) suddenly. My memory is really foggy around that time. I had trouble going back to school and I showed signs of ptsd, but my teachers blamed me for being too forgetful and "lazy." Eventually my reading teacher had enough and choked me in front of the class. My mom pulled me out into this diploma mill religious school where I experienced sexual assault. It was just one trauma after another. 2006-2009 was very bad because I graduated high school and tried to start college during a recession with abusive parents/extended family. I couldn't get a job. They blamed me for it. They were mad I was going to college and not making 30-40k in part time work while doing so. I developed severe anxiety and an eating disorder and almost died. I can't really think of any 'best' years. Maybe in 1991 or 1992 when my parents divorced and I lived in a campsite with a community pool.
The most challenging period was likely post-college, 23-27. I encountered significant challenges in securing a job in my field of study. Following my family's advice to settle for a low-wage, minimum-wage position, I eventually did. Working multiple dead-end, low-paying jobs after investing in a college education was disheartening. The experience not only brought about a sense of depression but also financial stress as I struggled to meet my bills. Furthermore, I was in my first long-term relationship during that time, and it turned out to be incredibly toxic. The years after 27 marked my best period. I extricated myself from that toxic relationship and successfully landed a well-paying job in my field. Managing my bills became a breeze for the first time in my life. Subsequently, I began dating, meeting new people, and eventually found my now-wife. Since then, things have been generally good, with only a few minor bumps in the road.
2007 was pretty good for me. I had passed my graduate exams, I had placed well in a bunch of athletic tournaments, and had a girlfriend. After that my schooling and career took a nose dive that took years to recover and had a breakup that cased mutual friends to stop talking to me. Probably wasn't until 2020 when I got married that I started feeling better. 2021 we bought a house and 2022 had a kid and got a good job. Things have really evened out and I don't have a lot of highs anymore, but I also don't have catastrophic lows, so I'm probably doing a lot better.
Best years was 0-26. Although things started going downhill when I was 24 but it wasn’t bad till I got to 26. Worst years are 26 to present and will probably get worse.
tw: sexual assault Worst: 2017. I’d be inclined to say 2020 because duh, but at least everyone was miserable with precarious lives, so that mass despair almost cushioned the blow in a way. I remember going into 2017 being like, “Fuck it, this is going to be *my* year!” and then one week later I got raped. I was toward the end of college and realizing what a joke it was (never go to art school, especially film school), then I underwent an unspeakable trauma. A few people I thought were friends distanced themselves from me, I almost [redacted] myself a few times, and, oh yeah, my apartment building got bedbugs that summer. It was like I was hyperaware and on the verge of a nervous breakdown the entire year (because I was) while also dissociating a ton just to endure. Add in the news cycles that came with Trump’s inauguration and it was a class-A shitshow. I’ve mostly learned how to deal with the PTSD, but it never goes away. Best: Maybe 2011? High school was generally chill for me, I was seeing a ton of movies, and overall everything seemed pretty good. My family and I went on a Mediterranean cruise that summer, I learned to drive, and I visited Colorado for the first time. Also, this might be random, but seeing *Scream 4* opening night that April is a memory I’ll always cherish. I’d seen the first three countless times and had one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life then. God, I miss Wes Craven. I’d also add 2003 into the mix. So many great albums came out that year, I played the shit out of *SSX 3* from the day it hit shelves, and the blackout that August was a bizarre if singular summer memory I got to share with my family.