Biggest hurdles you've had to overcome in your life?

[colours]

I feel like all of us have had a good amount of challenges come before us in our lives. Some may seem overwhelming at first, oftentimes to the point of demotivating us or causing us to lose or will to overcome these obstacles. However, either through sheer support via others or through some other means, we've begun to overcome these obstacles. It certainly has not been an easy journey doing so, but it's rather evident that even the tallest, most seemingly impassable mountains in life can be climbed.

... That sounded awfully preachy and sappy but I say all that to ask this: what was your biggest life obstacle and how did your overcome it, assuming you're okay with sharing it?

 

[LadyJirachu]

I've went through a lot of hardships when I was a kingdom hearts fan. :/

It hurts to remember them....cuz some of the stuff i used to believe in and fear those days were just a bit too sad T___T;;

I'm glad things are getting a bit more easy for me now that I went from riku fangirl to korrina fangirl. A lot of my old fears are washing away now ^_^ Korrina's so positive for me.

 

[gimmepie]

I think to describe my biggest hurdle in life as something from the past that I've now dealt with would be incorrect. There have certainly been problems in the past that I counted as the biggest hurdle at the time, but if I'm honest the biggest hurdle(s) are things that I'm going through now that are an ongoing struggle. I don't mind talking about these things though, I've been pretty open about it all.

In October of 2015 I very spontaneously came down with an illness that basically shut down my digestive system. I didn't really eat for 2-3 months and was hospitalised multiple times. I'm through the really nasty patch now but it still impacts my life a lot and nobody has even been able to diagnose the problem. I can't leave the house for the most part, I haven't really been anywhere aside from nearby appointments in approaching three years and it's had pretty nasty effects on my anxiety and depression which were already things I struggled with - probably in relation to my autism to some extent. Getting sick robbed me of my social life and cost me friendships, it's made my future very hazy and it took my ability to dance from me which is something I'm very passionate about and I don't really know if I'll ever get better.

So it's not a struggle I've overcome yet but I've had and still have amazing support from my family, Kitty and the friends I'm in contact with from here and from offline and I've got a great psychologist and doctor and that's how I'm in the process of getting over the hurdle I guess. I wouldn't say that I'm at peace with my problems but to an extent I've learned to accept how things are right now and I do my best to cope with that whilst still looking to be better in the future.

 

[Corrin]

Almost died via blood loss in 2011, had a stomach cancer scare in 2016

 

[Trev]

Coming out was a huge obstacle. Mountain-sized even. When I finally came out and my parents accepted me, it felt like I was on top of the world. I take it for granted now but it's so liberating to not have to hide and lie and mask who I am. Even just saying "my future husband" on Facebook posts makes me feel powerful.

 

[colours]

One of the biggest hurdles I've had to overcome is how to actually socialize and talk to people.

See, when I was younger, I didn't talk to very many people much. I had two best friends, but I only spoke and saw one of them somewhat regularly and the other attended a different school, so I rarely saw him at all. Said first best friend also had completely different classes than I did, so I had to start from scratch on making new friends and all that kinda stuff. It was about as difficult as you can imagine.

The thing is, this fear of talking to people, this anxiety of trying to make conversation, this was a thing that I've had for years and I've always kinda accepted it as who I was. I thought I was never going to get better, I was never going to improve, that I was going to stay the same that I always was.

But I didn't, I think sometime after I graduated high school and then landed my first job, I realized that in order to have any kind of stable employment, I had to step outside of my comfort zone; this means socializing with customers and not being able to break down into nervous stuttering, things like that. Over time, as I've gained more and more job experience, I've gotten better and better at conversing with people until it came somewhat naturally. I'll always be a strong introvert, and conversations will be a weak point in some instances, but I really feel like I've really come a long way from what I once was.

This seems like insignificant rambling, but it really is a big deal to me. Socializing with others and carrying on actual decent conversation has never really come easy to me in my life until I was just thrown into the real world and basically was forced into it, and although the pressure was high, I've had to adapt in order to better improve myself.

There are some other hurdles that I'm trying to overcome, but I'll save that for a later post, perhaps. :o

 

[pastelspectre]

erm. not to get..idk. depressing?

but going through my depression and other mental illnesses while growing up as a teen to me, was one of the hardest things. i think i have always had it, even before i was diagnosed but mental illness was never really brought up in the family so i never thought of it. but it was really hard. all throughout middle school i was bullied horribly. called horrible names. i was able to tolerate it until 8th grade, when i started self harming. i did it every day and it was.. god. it was awful. i was so so depressed in that time. i hid it from pretty much every one i think, except for one or two close friends. even my mom nor dad knew about it until i told them myself by getting the courage to by my counselor at school.

then i got therapy (after i was hospitalized) and it was okay for the most part. still horrible. but managing i guess. then i moved to another town and i got slightly better. was still hospitalized three times after that, but.. yeah. i got an amazing therapist who i ended up seeing for 5 years, just up until i moved states.

but after i got suspended from the public high school i went to (for personal reasons, mental health related ones), i was given a choice to go back to the out patient program they offered for people like me with mental health issues or to go and visit an alternative school. since i had already been in the out patient program before, i chose to visit the school. that ended up being one of the best decisions of my life.

there i was given a lot of resources and help. i had a social worker, a much better psychiatrist than the one i had before (i also had a therapist outside of school), a counselor i could see at any time, and people there who were going through the same things as me. it was.. a helpful, growing environment.

however, it was very difficult to go through all of that. even now, i still struggle with my depression and other mental health issues as well as my self harm. i am almost a year clean, but it is a daily struggle. it will be a struggle for the rest of my life. but the times i struggled with it as a teenager were the hardest struggles of my life. at least until i run into more difficult struggles.

 

[Sheep]

Waking up with severe anxiety one day and taking months to be able to properly go out without shaking and feeling like I'd crumble down to my knees. One night I woke up gasping for air so much that I started having panic attacks every 10 seconds, and be unable to sleep because I'd constantly wake up in fear. Had to quit karate classes and couldn't go outside because of the constant state of panic I was in. Walking around the block was incredibly difficult since I thought I'd die at any moment. Took me a few months to go to a mental health clinic and ask for medication, but in the end mom convinced me not to take them since they're addicting, I'd never be able to get off them, my condition wasn't that bad, etc etc. Even though she herself takes anxiety meds. The stigma around taking mental health medication in my household is a huge part of why I'm so worried and even ashamed to consider it.

Nowadays my condition is much better and I'm so thankful I no longer experience things on the same level. I would rather have limbs broken than ever experience the unbearable pain that anxiety caused me back in 2015. Communicating normally and going outside is something I will never again take for granted.

 

[strangerhypno]

Sorry if my answer is pretty vague and not as personal but my biggest hurdle is trying to live in this messed up world. The odds of overcoming this is very near impossible but I hope to make a good impact on this earth (such as helping people out, being a good role model to at least one person hopefully), no matter how infinitesimal, so the world becomes slightly less crappy by then.

 

[Neb]

There are three major obstacles that I've had to overcome, two of which I'm dealing with now.

First were the effects my Moms had on me by arguing so much. The worst parts of their personalities would shine through and it made me terrified of angering people. Even on here I'm terrified of making people angry through my beliefs. Thankfully, they have stopped and are much better parents now. I just wish they didn't make me go through that.

Second was my anorexia incident. In fifth grade, a girl I liked talked about her overweight cousin. Afraid of looking like him, I stopped eating and spent every recess exercising. My ribs and stomach were always aching, but I was detirmined to be skinny. At one point I was about 15 lbs underweight. If I wasn't given therapy and help from a nutritionist, I might still be in that rut.

Last is one I'm just now getting out of. For five straight years, I have dealt with the effects of bullying. It all started when a girl shoved me into a water fountain. I got a six month long bruise on my chest and my parents took me out of the school after nothing was done. From there, I went and worked online for two years. Once I was back at a new middle school, people began making fun of me. Ugly, gross, fat, autist, idiot, creepy, stiff. I got all that and more. My self esteem plummeted and I began eating more. Twenty lbs later, I went to a high school that had a reputation for being open, accepting, and kind to all. Hoping to get an escape I went there only to find out that wasn't the case. I caught a couple making out by a restroom just a month after I joined and I reported them for indecency (looking back I should've just ignored it). Rumors quickly spread and the people involved started attacking me verbally. Eventually I had enough and tried to asphyxiate myself in front of several students. Instead of trying to stop me, they glared like I was interrupting them. The only reason I'm still here is because a teacher intervened.

10th grade was more of the same. Insults were thrown at me, I reported it, and nothing was done. This year they've begun to rely on the school's tolerance for mobile phones by taking pictures of me. They'll upload it to their Snapchats and Instagrams with captions like, "Someone please (insert inappropriate word here) me." Angered by the school's laid back attitude on the whole thing, I went up to the school and declared leaving. I had enough.

Now that I'm gone, all I have to do is get over it. The shaming, the insults, all of it. I thought it would be hard to do, but it's actually gotten better. Being away from those toxic people has cleared my head considerably. I'm happier, more accepting, and more willing to do things than I have been in years. Even though they still take pictures of me outside of school, I'm still doing much better. Reaching the point where I can get over what happened is finally drawing near. All I need to do is find my place in my new school and I'm set.

 

[Aslan]

THIS IS VERY LONG so I spoilered it but tl;dr my whole life got turned upside down for years by hypochondria and anxiety, I found out I had a lot of actual medical issues and I got hit with depression, found out I have a form of OCD... the more I keep going the more of a train wreck my life sounds so just read ahead if you feel like it.

Spoiler:

In 5th grade, I had an experience where I almost choked whilst eating. Afterwards, I developed a fear of eating in case it happened again. I went to the doctor and despite constant reassurance that it was OK, I wasn't taking it. Little did I realise that would be the beginning of years of struggling with hypochondria - something I still haven't quite overcome to this day.

As a result of the incident, I stopped being able to eat properly. The anxiety about eating was so consuming that I avoided it at all costs. When I tried to eat, barely any food would go down. I did not realise at the time it was my anxiety - instead I thought it confirmed that there was a medical problem with me. When I went back to the doctor, the doctor said to my parents that the only recommendation they could make was to take me to the hospital for tests so that I'd feel more reassured. I still remember how at the parking lot of the hospital - I had the first panic attack I ever had. I didn't know what was happening but when I pulled up at the entrance of the hospital, my hands had gone numb and I couldn't stop shaking. My lips had turned blue to the point my parents panicked and we made a sprint for it. At that moment, I truly thought I was about to die.

Despite the hospital also telling me that everything was indeed OK, I still couldn't eat properly. For months, I would barely eat and I lost a lot of weight as a result. I could barely concentrate, I was really ill and also extremely upset all the time. I thought I would have to live the rest of my life like this. It was only when a specialist explained to me that it was anxiety and did a test where they put a camera down my throat to prove nothing was abnormal that I finally began to regain my eating ability. Slowly, but surely I recovered. Since then, I've had one relapse which was earlier this year (around March) where another experience happened where I didn't quite choke but couldn't swallow my food for some reason. For 2 months I had a lot of trouble eating which impacted my studies a lot, but thankfully with the help of tools such as therapy and learning to manage my anxiety I've recovered again. Hopefully it can stay that way.

I've also had a lot of other incidents with hypochondria. I used to experience the most severe chest pain and I thought that surely, signalled that my heart was going to give out at a moment's notice. It got to the point where my chest was in so much pain that every step I took felt like I was being constricted, and that I felt like I couldn't breathe. I spent half the day in bed when I could and I would never wish it on anyone. This year in April it got to the point where I had such severe chest pain that I had to get someone to call an ambulance and I was hospitalised for a day. It turns out that after five years, I found out that I had severe acid reflux which was causing a lot of other symptoms such as what I now know to be heartburn and other symptoms. That in itself has been a struggle to adjust to, having to change my diet a lot and still experiencing severe reflux but it comforts me knowing it's nothing more. I also found out in the process that I have a potential issue with my heart that could happen 30 - 40 years in the future so that's fun! Really can't be bothered to care about it now though. Another time, I also thought I had appendicitis... in fairness it was quite similar to the actual symptoms but I managed to worry myself to the point that I was in so much pain I barely could move. A lot of tests later and it was fine, but that week was one of my worst.

I also got diagnosed with three actual medical disorders (apart from reflux) so wow I guess my body just really hates me :D As a result, I started experiencing symptoms of clinical depression in June 2016. Before I would have 'rough' periods, but never to the extent of feeling hopeless for months on end. It got to the point where I felt emotionally numb and I had no energy or will to do anything anymore. I wanted so badly to tell someone what was going on but the fear of them thinking of me differently made me keep it to myself. For some reason I had got into the mindset that I had to be positive and cheerful, all the time. But this isn't realistic. Eventually I did tell people and I'm happy to say they have been supportive and helped me through so much. I also organised professional help after months of putting it off - I initially hid it from my parents as I didn't want to upset them. It did help, though I am now working with my parents to reorganise it as I haven't gone in a while.

I also found out that I've had OCD for a few years in regards to intrusive thoughts... won't go into any of them because none of them are fun, but its been hard. Have been doing my best to deal with it though.

I also struggled a lot with issues in regards to self-esteem - my family and culture in general, values academics to a great extent. Since I was young, the importance of performing well in school has always been emphasised to me and I would get sent to tutoring for all my subjects so I could pass exams to get into the 'top' high schools, and secure myself a good degree. Having got into one of the top schools, it has put a lot of pressure on me to perform in comparison to my peers who all excel at their subjects. I constantly overworked myself, got burnt out and stressed about school - with all the other issues going on, this only made my anxiety and depression worse and worse. I was so fixed with getting a perfect report that I stopped taking care of myself. I am getting better at managing my stress but it's now my final year of HS with my first exams coming up in a week... so lets hope I hold it together.

Anyway that concludes this mess. :D

 

[Greninja use Water Shuriken!]

One of my biggest hurdles was getting over the bullying that happened to me years ago in my school. People bullied me for being a Nintendo fan, even sometimes psychically attacking me and getting me in trouble.

Eye contact was another thing I had to work on for a while.

Getting over my anxiety disorder was very hard, but I managed to do it in the end.