Dad for a Minute

It’s been a mixed bag. Some ups, some downs.

My relationship with my long-term partner has definitely suffered quite a bit from my malaise. I am doing my best to repair what was damaged from my lacking. She definitely helped me through a lot of the hardship and put aside some of her issues to help me through mine. She’s not suffering like I was, but that’s no reason to let her carry it all like she has been. I just hope I can be enough to improve her life in the same way she makes mine brighter.

On the working front, I was certain my current position was a dead end that made me miserable. I increased how many jobs I was applying to at night and committed to sending out at least 25 applications each month. I got plenty of interviews but never an offer, for almost 10 months. My motivation would come in waves, but I kept striving to do better each time. Eventually I ended up quitting after 9 months of this. I increased my pace of job applications, knowing I had 6 months to rely solely on my savings before I’d have to take a non-engineering position to pay the bills. I got to month four and was sweating bullets before I landed my current position. It’s not perfect, but my coworkers and boss actually seem to care for each other. It’s a demotion in terms of what I’m doing, but I see a path forward for what I could do here.

During my job search, I ended up applying for the robotics teacher position at my old high school. I got second place, but they created an assistant coach position for me to help out the team this upcoming year. I’m honestly so excited, I started seeing a therapist, and it was okay. I’m not entirely sure what it did, but maybe it will help later and I just can’t realize it yet. I stopped when I quit my last job and just started again last week with a new one. I’m not sure I mesh with this guy, but I’m willing to give it a try. I might also try seeing a few others to find someone who clicks.

I just finished a massive biography that took me forever to get through. I feel so satisfied, and I really enjoyed the new perspective I have after doing a deep dive.

Mentally, I still feel tired and am still struggling with a lack of motivation. I’m just trying to keep moving, but some days are easier than others.

The self-hate is still there. I don’t like who I am, but I can at least see someone I could become whom I do like. I guess I could see it before, but it felt like a mockery of who I was in the moment. Hopefully, one day I’ll have the wisdom of Iroh. For now, I’ll work on figuring out what’s best for the moment at hand.

I really appreciate all the comments on this post. They helped me, at a low point, realize I wasn’t as trapped as I felt in that moment.