Anyone else in their late 20's/early 30's and feel like they're running out of time?
I wasted almost the entirety of my twenties too afraid to face my agoraphobia or social phobia, dating a man who was emotionally abusive. I suppressed who I was and what I wanted from life. My beliefs about myself were so limiting that my entire worldview was distorted. I thought I was worth so little and was such a burden, that I was actually grateful for my boyfriend despite how he treated me. I feel like so many of us struggle with extremely self limiting beliefs. When you've been housebound for years, your identity can shift from "someone who gets anxiety going outside" to "someone who CAN'T go outside", to "someone who hates going outside". Then we've trapped ourselves because we've internalised it as part of our identity.
I think understanding this may have been more foundational than starting exposure itself for me. If you identify as someone who doesn't like going outside as apposed to someone who feels anxiety when outside, you are going to struggle far more than someone who approaches the idea of going out with curiosity and fluidity. So I began challenging the labels I had assigned myself like "introvert" or someone who doesn't like x or y. This opened up a total can of worms though. Because not only did I realise that everything I had been telling myself about myself for years was a total lie, I also recognised that I wanted to be a mother. I never allowed myself to entertain this prior. The furthest I ever got was "even if I wanted a child it would be unethical because of my mental health and my ex would make a terrible father". Now, I allow myself to dream it, to believe it's possible, and it fucking sucks because I don't have the life skills I should have at this age to make this desire a reality. I have barely worked a day in my life, so I have borderline no work experience, I have no resume, no education, nothing to show for my life. I can't take care of myself yet, let alone another human being. I think the cruelest lesson I'm trying to internalise is "ready" doesn't exist, and life is going to happen whether I choose to engage with it or I don't. I don't want to live a life of regrets anymore, but man, it just sucks.
Posted Jun 13, 2026, 11:31 PM UTC