Her

Age 29
Seen 4 Hours Ago
Posted 4 Days Ago
whatever way you measure your personal growth, use that
Sure, I'll roll with this. Posting in a topic that requires me to be positive actually requires some effort and acknowledgement of personal growth, something I don't typically indulge in...and may not have twelve months ago. So there's a point already: twelve months ago I would have either left this sort of topic alone or just posted an extremely sardonic comment. Result! Off to a good start here.

Anyways. Health-wise, whilst I am a long way off from where I would like to be I am more stable now than I was previously, both physically and mentally. I've made a lot of changes over the last year and they've paid off a bit, at last. I have off periods - the last couple of weeks have been extremely difficult for me for reasons I will not be going into - but things like this are more infrequent and I'm recovering from them a lot faster. Maybe my way of managing isn't as ideal as it could be, but it's not as self-destructive as it was previously.

Twelve months ago I was also locked down in a secondary care nightmare that had me two steps away from being sectioned under a MHA. Now I'm just going for monthly checkups - although I have a set criteria I need to meet each month to avoid re-referral, but they're fairly lenient - and I have a volunteer position in a school that I go to once or twice a week. So I've started piecing my life back together.

Sure, I'm still a complete wreck, and my future is rather bleak: I have no friends, no job prospects, and no idea how long it'll be before I can really manage, if ever I can. But you can't really undo two decade's worth of damage over the space of a year, can you? One day at a time, one step at a time. I'm better off now than I was a year ago, and that is largely due to my efforts. I at least have myself now, and I'm starting to be able to rely on myself a lot more than I could before. So yeah. Yay for me, I guess.

I'm probably going to delete this later, but I at least made an effort, right?
I've drastically improved my health from a year ago. Around this time last year I wasn't really concerned about my diet and ate whatever I felt like. My metabolism is really high so I have never been punished with weight gain for overeating. However, I was really starting to feel sickly, I wasn't sleeping well, I was always exhausted, etc. I told myself that I was going to completely turn around my diet and I did! I still eat things that I enjoy but I make sure to balance my diet with a healthy dose of exercise each day. I feel 10 times better than I did a year ago.

gimmepie

Age 27
Male
Australia
Seen 10 Hours Ago
Posted 13 Hours Ago
24,970 posts
11.1 Years
I'm learning ways to find meaning in a life where I can no longer do a lot of the things I love to do.
RPWLA&MVGGaming Journal

starseed galaxy auticorn

PC's Resident Auticorn

Age 34
she/he/they
the land of magical unicorns
Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
6,648 posts
18.9 Years
I've learned that visual kei is my real path for one thing. I've also learned that you can't always trust others. After dealing with fakes, I feel like I can't trust every person I meet firsthand. I have trust issues with people, which makes it hard to make friends for me. It's one of the reasons, at least.

Harmonie

Winds ღ

Age 34
She/her
The Bible Belt. >_<
Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted 1 Day Ago
1,003 posts
16.2 Years
Actually, the last 12 months have been quite earth-shaking for me. It'd require a long backstory, and more personal details to really go into exactly how wild it has been.

But let me just say... The last 12 months have come about helping me move on from a very painful past-relationship that lingered on too long for me... AND it has brought me back into school going for the career I really want. Three years ago I gave up on ever going to school for music again. I couldn't practice like I wanted to, and ultimately even though I felt pretty confident with what I played in my last 'audition' (long story...) I fell apart actually performing it. I was so crushed, and after a recital years before where I also had troubles... I decided it wasn't for me, I decided I should stop bothering teachers and people with a dream that just isn't for me despite how much I want it. The flame died, and I resigned to working a low-paying overnight (misery) job, thinking that's where my life would end.

This last year changed everything. Everything. It's a personal story, of which some pretty amazing details will have to be left out... But in the end, I ended up with an amazing teacher. I went into lessons not thinking of school, not thinking of school at all. I was inspired to record for fun. However, in the first lesson, she got it out of me, that I really wanted to go to school, but that I was terrified.

She worked with me, and started bringing hope back into my life. She found a college to get me on the right track. I successfully got into the music program, and even got a scholarship. And now she's even got me on the right track to performing, as she had me do a recital. She told me the right words to help me along, and I had a successful recital.

I'm so happy right now. I leave that miserable overnight job in just a few short months. I get to go into the degree I want to... and now I even feel like I can perform. This is such a huge deal, it has been a HUGE dream for me, and I had thrown it away, leaving me to feel dead inside for those years. In the end, I ended up having thrown it away too soon... And I don't know if I would have ever lived to see this day if it weren't for that incredible teacher.

I can only dream of ever being able to change a student's life that much... But you never know what you will be able to do when you go into teaching.

~Signature Artwork from (DA) queen-of-dark-elves

maccrash

foggy notion

Age 24
Male
Massachusetts
Seen October 7th, 2021
Posted April 17th, 2017
3,583 posts
9.2 Years
I've become more friendly and stopped putting on airs, or at least stopped to a certain extent. I'm being myself more. I've found friends that don't make me feel like muk to be around. I've found Love, in some capacity. I made it into the college I wanted to and will be going there in 4 months.

on the other hand, there's a lot of anxieties I've been having about my future and the aforementioned Love and moving away and independence, but I've been shelving most of them away for future me to deal with because none of them are things that are pertinent to the here and now.
you're the poet in my heart

Alex

what will it be next?

Seen December 30th, 2022
Posted December 26th, 2022
6,407 posts
16.4 Years
becoming more confident in myself, little by little. i think its more than just a state of mind for me. the root of my confidence seems to be my professional accomplishments. ill bet if i started doing more exercise i would feel a confidence boost too.

about it tbh, wish i had more to say

Flowerchild

> it’s a new world

Age 24
She/Her
Hyperspace
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 7th, 2022
8,699 posts
13 Years
Similar to maccrash, I feel like I've moved away from the "friends" that I spent years hanging out with, despite the fact that they treated me terribly and clearly didn't really care about me or hanging out with me. I've found people who I really want to hang out with, and who want to hang out with me, and as a result of that I feel like I can start being myself rather than trying to fit into a mold just to talk to people who want nothing to do with me.

I also came back to PC and once again became addicted to this site which is pretty fun imo. It's been a good past year.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
('')_('')
This Is Bunny. Copy And Paste Bunny Into
Your Signature To Help Him Gain World Domination!!!!
PairFamilyPalArt
Seen January 1st, 2023
Posted March 23rd, 2022
3,316 posts
9.2 Years
hmm well this time last year i wasn't in school yet, i had a lower paying job, i was still butthurt over a relationship that transpired at the turn of the year. i feel like i've grown in the aspect of new experiences. im experiencing college and an office job, it's all very new for me and has gotten me out of my comfort zone. in regards to relationships my standards have been raised because i've now experienced being treated really well by someone.

Margaery Tyrell

Growing Strong

Age 24
Female
USA
Seen February 28th, 2018
Posted November 27th, 2016
335 posts
10.4 Years
I think I really have grown in certain aspects in this past year, and while at times I've felt like a step forward was two steps back - at this point in time, I know I've become better. Especially in the way I view myself - I always thought I was set, that my confidence and love for myself wasn't going to diminish ever again, but I learned that it can be tested and at times I felt even lower than I ever have before. And I grew stronger for it. I know now that its a process and I have to take it all in strides as I go - and that its okay to reach those low points. A step backward can set up a running start for a leap ahead - I'm happy that I've experienced the trials I've faced this past year. I feel more wholesome for it, healthier.

I've also learned that sometimes, no matter how much you may feel for someone, there's far more people out there - a lesson I'll likely revisit a lot in the future.

Overall though, I'm not disappointed in myself or dissatisfied, while I've grown in some areas and admittedly lost some good habits, a change is just a change. I'm happy about it. :)
But he who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the
R O S E

Margot

some things are that simple

they/he
Seen April 16th, 2022
Posted February 25th, 2019
3,662 posts
17.3 Years
In general, I guess quite a bit now that I think about it! I got a new, much better paying job. My boyfriend and I moved into our first real apartment together, and I've traveled to quite a few cities and have gotten to see some great people. In spite of how utterly busy I've been, I've also managed to read a lot of books and do the most amount of for-fun writing I've done in y e a r s. It's crazy.

Sometimes it's hard to put that kind of stuff into perspective though, because tbh over the last half of the year, I feel like my mental health has gotten a lot worse. So while professionally I'm doing good, I still feel like a hopeless mess most of the time. Ah well, something to keep working on improving.

OuterTsuchinoko

Age 31
Male
New Jersey
Seen November 19th, 2018
Posted July 13th, 2018
580 posts
7.2 Years
The only way I've bettered myself in the last 12 months is with my health. My stomach condition is much more stable now and I feel better mentally and physically.

Next thing to do on the list to bettering myself would be to find a job and gain a little weight.

KetsuekiR

Ridiculously unsure

Male
Somewhere you couldn't possibly know.
Seen November 24th, 2021
Posted June 24th, 2020
2,493 posts
9.2 Years
I've drastically improved my sleep schedule. There was a time where I would only get around two to four hours of sleep a day and somedays none at all, and it really showed. I would end up super tired in school, my friends began to worry, and my grades were at an all time low.

Then at one point I decided that if I was ever going to do the things I want to do, I had to get my crap together and work for it. I forced myself to get into the habit of sleeping for at least six hours, and as a result, I was more focused and my grades improved tremendously. Good stuff. c:
Image by Marmoset

Sothis

Guns and ammo lie in front of you

She/her
Firene
Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted 1 Day Ago
17,844 posts
9.9 Years
I'd say I've become more emotionally stable since this time last year!

The clips are all loaded,
now what shall you do?


Her

Age 29
Seen 4 Hours Ago
Posted 4 Days Ago
i guess the most immediate thing is that in december last year, i decided that i would not expend any more effort on retaining knowingly bad relationships with people simply because i didn't want to feel lonely. true loneliness is a scary thing and i really was afraid of ending up there again so it was easier to just keep to the status quo. i always made a show of saying i didn't let people walk over me, but a lot of the time it was just that: a show. time and time again the same people would do the same things unbecoming of any sort of friendship, let alone someone you purport to care about. and while i kicked up a fuss when they did so, i always let it happen in the future because i didn't want to rock the boat too hard and risk disrupting my small circle. there's also an element of letting them get away with it all because i viewed myself with the same low stature that they viewed me. in any case, in december i just didn't have the time to deal with it anymore. i had a good job, i had other social outlets/a wider range of friends, i was dating someone and i really just didn't have to put up with it anymore. from anyone, really. i was happier and i hadn't felt so stable in a very long time. i'm not saying any muk like I Had The Strength To Move On, i just had no interest in being hypocritical to my beliefs any longer. so i rocked the boat and that was that.

what else...
in january i also made my doctor stop treating me with anti-depressants and give me better medication to do with my mental health issues, which has been absolutely wonderful for my all-round health so far this year. i'm calmer and about as emotionally balanced as i can hope for, which is saying something considering how uh... unbalanced i've been in the past.

it's weird actually having measurable improvements for once

Bidoof FTW

→ Bidoof is Pretty Rad

Age 23
Male
the States
Seen April 4th, 2021
Posted October 16th, 2019
3,547 posts
9.5 Years
I'm growing up, I think. I can notice mature things that I do now that I wouldn't have done a while ago.

It feels good.

Ho-Oh

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years
This is an easy one. A little over a year ago I moved from living with people who did everything for me - drove me everywhere, booked in all my appointments, kept track of everything for me and cooked all my food/made all my lunch. I also was stuck at the same jobs - never been rejected, didn't go out anywhere I didn't have to and didn't plan on leaving.

That changed when I decided to move over here.

Not long before I moved I finally got my Red P Plates. Here that means that you can drive on your own. I didn't really drive on my own at first. I didn't feel safe enough to. But yet a year later I'm driving to work everyday. I still get Ryan (Frizy) to warm up my car for me and I'm rushing around at the last minute - but I manage. I've learnt how to drive in a lot of different situations here and have more independence. If I wanted to go somewhere - boom I'm able to go. No questions asked.

I go to shops on my own now, I can cook amazing scrambled eggs, I make my own lunch, I change the bed sheets every week now and consistently tidy the bedroom. While I live with his parents I've become way more independent. Yeah dinner is cooked for me but I'm now able to cook dinner for myself if I needed to. Yeah the washing is done for me but I iron my clothes whenever I get the chance - his mother just does it routinely so I don't get the chance to.

I've dealt with rejections! I've been job hopping since I moved here - casual, christmas casual and now a job that I knew from the start was short term.

I started photographing for a local magazine. I actively get to go out and photograph at cool places and meet people. I know people in the community here now. I know it a lot better than the one I lived in for 22 years.

I make my own appointments, keep track of everything and continue to budget my money. I also now ask the awkward questions that I don't really want to ask. It all gets done.

There's more and it was a slow process but over the last year or so I've grown up and gained independence that hey I can be fine without someone doing everything for me. It was the absolute best decision ever to move - it taught me to grow up quickly. The only problem is I'm still **** scared of spiders so if there's a spider I will freak out and make sure someone comes to fix the problem. Otherwise I think I'm good.

My photography has also improved immensely and it makes me happy. :)

DarkestMidnight

Demon Slayer

Finals (Hell)
Seen January 23rd, 2018
Posted August 19th, 2017
412 posts
7.2 Years
Oh my, I don't even know where to begin. I've changed so much over the past year and a lot more over the past 3 years. I guess I'll just list off some of the biggest things.

I used to be really depressed and I was even a little bit suicidal for a while, but I overcame that. I won't go into what caused that depression, but I will say that I found a way to rid myself of that. Now, I feel a lot better and a lot stronger than I used to be.

I've also matured a lot over the past year. I used to see the world in pretty simple terms, but now I feel like I understand myself and the world around me a lot better now. I've come to know the people in the world who have good hearts and the totally wicked people out there, and I understand how to deal with all of them now. My mind has grown sharper, in my opinion.

One of the best developments is that I think I finally found who I am. Before, I didn't really understand who I was or what my purpose is in life it seems a lot clearer to me now. I found the people I truly care about and the life I want to live.

I also picked up writing and I'm also trying to learn how to speak Japanese, Spanish, and Swedish. I get teased a lot about watching anime and wanting to learn Japanese, but hey, I don't really care what other people think. That's the other thing I've learned, what people think of you doesn't really matter.

The last major thing that I've realized through dating is that there's more to a person than what you see on the outside. I also realized how important it is to treat others with respect and how important kindness is.

If you want to hear some words of wisdom, here are a few bits of advice I have for you. No one's perfect, and you're no exception to that rule; accept yourself for who you are. Be your own person and don't listen to people who want to bring you down, they don't matter. Don't cut others down to raise yourself up in life. This last one may seem cliche, but treat others the way you'd like to be treated.

Anyways, sorry for rambling so much, I hope you took something away from this. Thanks for listening!

-Midnight

Edit: I used to be fairly shy and quiet, afraid to stand up for myself and defend my opinions. Now, I'm a lot stronger and unafraid to call people out on their mistakes and stand up for myself. I will admit I've over corrected myself a little bit. I've kind of developed a temper over the past year, so if someone is a jerk to me or my friends, I get pretty nasty. I don't actually fight people, but I do yell sometimes. Oh well, I'm sure I'll fix that eventually.