I'm in my mid 30s and have almost nothing to look forward to. Anyone else in the same boat?

Run more, run harder.

Serious question. Not trolling. How do you survive on 21k a year? Like how is that even possible in a country where the average rent just went to 1500?

Have kids

I made $95K last year.

There's a balance in everything. What's the point of putting in longer hours to get more money if you're stressed out and don't have the time to enjoy the cash? What's the point of running 110+MPW if you're taken down by injuries and inadequate recovery time?

Work and run smart, not hard.

Seriously, whats wrong with you? You are in your 30s

I'll be 65 this year and still having fun, can't even imagine how I'm going to fit in everything

1900 had no heavier-than-air aircraft, and 1950 had supersonic flight. And that's just one example out of many.

Life in 1972 wasn't that much different than today. We had cars, color TV, microwave ovens, nukes, spaceflight, rubberized tracks, 1200' tall skyscrapers, and even basic video games like Pong. It's not even close to the difference between 1900 and 1950.

Life has been too easy for OP?

This helps me. Every couple of months I have a trip or a fun event to look forward to. Gets me through.

take up disc golf

OP, sounds like you need to go for a long hike. I'm not talking a day or two. Do a thru hike of some trail. Maybe 150-200 miles. Take 10-14 days doing it.

Gathering the needed gear is part of the fun, and figuring out the logistics. The hike is fun too, but can also be difficult. It will change your perspective on every day life, though, and help appreciate the modern luxuries in a different way.

After that, find another trail to make a goal out of.

Maybe give cycling try if you haven't. you'll be able to set all new PRs, and I find you can do it hard more often without needing to recover. It will be a new challenge and a new learning curve. You'll probably be pretty good with a running background.

I'd also suggest finding ways to live for others. It's tough no longer setting PRs, etc. and focusing on personal goals. As we age, it is important to set goals that help others. Whether your own children, community members, whomever, helping others can be very rewarding. You likely have knowledge and skills that could be of great use to someone younger who is struggling. Build those types of relationships.

I'm 34 and have been depressed since I was 16. I don't know why, I just became struck down with it.

Took mirtazipine the other night and today I could barely get out of bed, just stumbling from the bed to the bathroom. I am tired and fatigued at the time and running makes no difference, whether it is high or low mileage. I raced the other day in a daze just feeling completely fatigued in the first mile.

As for careers and relationships, the jobs market is an absolute joke at least here in the UK. Relationships, how do you meet someone if you have no social circle and no one socialises anymore anyway? Everyones on their smartphone.

He either lives in an ultra-low cost of living area or inherited a ton of money. You can survive on 21K a year in most places if your house is paid off, but it's tough to buy a house in the first place (even in the 90s when prices were much cheaper) on a 21K/year salary.

Are you a liberal? Many liberals believe life is meaningless...

Hey man, I feel the same way much of the time. My advice is try to settle down and get married. It gives you more purpose. I'm 34 - I know I'll never PR again in anything other than perhaps a marathon, but that's okay...the age group stuff is fun.

I would also suggest joining a running group or a young adult group at a church (both is better).

Is there a business you want to start in your spare time? I'm always hustling something on the side. 9-5 is boring...entrepreneurial hustle is exciting as hell

I've felt how you describe on and off since my teenage years. I think it's a fairly common way to feel. Embrace that you will never know if there's any meaning to life and find something that gives you a sense of purpose.

Honest question: what responsibilities do you have in your life right now?

You say you have nothing to look forward to and then cite a bunch of externalities. So, I am genuinely curious what YOU are doing in your life right now? Not, what your life is doing to you.

And I ask this as a 33 year old who struggled with suicidal ideation and depression in my late teens into early 20’s. Mid-30’s, busy as ever with work, married, dogs to tend to, trying to have kids, mortgage to pay and I’m living a more fulfilling life than I could have imagined just a few short years ago when I was nihilistically focused on all that was wrong in the world around me.

From the somewhat grievances you laid out, it sounds to me like may be lacking in meaningful relationships. I don’t say that to criticize; just as an observation. And I say that because I’m in your age range, have responsibilities that vie for my time, have friends with responsibilities that vie for their time, and cannot tell you the last time one of us used the phrase “hang out”. Perhaps I’m reading into it too much, but I have for sure “spent time” with my friends and their families as well as my family recently (heck, this last weekend was a crazy, whirlwind of a trip to go spend the weekend with some family and friends).

When you are married, have kids, etc every minute counts and there really are not spare moments of the day left lying around to accumulate and spend just hanging out like in our teens or 20’s. Hence, why your choice of words seemed a cue to lacking something in those areas.

And - again - that is not a criticism if you are. I just know that I was very frustrated and angry with married friends and family who had no time for me when I was younger and I recognize now that a big difference was they had shouldered immense responsibilities (ie getting married, having kids, certain careers like teaching, doctor, lawyer, etc that are fulfilling but demanding) that I had not. I was stuck in a rut somewhat of my own doing for not setting out into the world to find things I could take on that would require my time and attention too, thereby making my time and attention all the more a valuable thing to me, and thereby making my time inherently of more apparent value to myself than it was before.

Mid 30s as well.

Not married (been in a relationship 5 years), no kids. Healthy, financially middle class. It's depressing. Parents getting to the age where you realize mortality exists. Your own mortality starts to surface as you get little hints here and there that you aren't peak self anymore. You realize any surprises or life choices are already mostly played out. Chances that you could have taken at 20 just don't present themselves the same when you're 38. You've worked long enough to hate it, but the end is nowhere in sight.

And before anyone says some philosophical BS like "you own your destiny" or "it's all in your attitude" it's not. If everyone had an epiphany and quit their job to sail the globe, everything would fall apart overnight. These are facts of life that are ingrained in biology, chemistry, and the very physics of the universe.

I mean, it's certainly true that innovation in certain areas has slowed, but this is really the kind of thing that makes you feel like you have nothing to look forward to? "I'm generally an optimist, but the diminishing technological improvements in commercial air travel have really got me feeling like I just don't know what I'm doing with my life."

Are you just looking for things to be mopey about?

Read a book called "The Middle Passage" by James Hollis. It will do a lot to normalize these feelings and help you process them.

Take up a new hobby. Once my running was on the decline, I took up climbing. I set new personal bests all the time, and my body is in much better shape overall. I still run, but just for fitness. It's so nice not having the "old me" to compete against.