Is it normal to be depressed and sad all the time about not being rich

81% Normal
8 Comments

I know this sounds stupid, but really, I am obsessed with having money. It's all i think about, all day, every day. I am tired of living a mediocre middle class life and having to work for decades and decades to pay off my student loans of 100k and save until i am old for a down payment for a house. I live in LA, so i see the lives of famous actors who make one movie, get millions and buy themselves a house - something that despite my ivy league education is way out of my league.

The other day I was reading about Leonardo DiCaprio owning a home in LA, two in Manhattan and an island in Belize which he is trying to make into an eco and environmentally friendly place. I was also reading about his efforts to help tigers. Exactly all the things I love, which are my passion and which I am dying to do, but cannot because I have to work for a living and charitable desires dont pay the bill or only pay the bill.

He is living his life while I am stuck at a job as a bureaucrat in which I cannot get anything done because my superiors dont listen to me anyway.

I am doing a job I hate for the paycheck only and I am worried about leaving it to pursue acting or maybe something else , like i banking, because what if it doesnt work out and i end up getting even less salary? But my main problem is the being obsessed with money part. I feel that money alone will give me the freedoms to actually do things in my life that are fulfilling while at the same time allowing me to live the kind of lifestyle I want. Middle class is no fun - especially now that it is disappearing in the US.

My entire life is dictated by lack of money: where i live, what I drive (or dont), if i travel, if i pursue my dreams, what job I have, where i hang out, what hobbies i pursue. EVRYTHING. think about it: having lots of money give you options. Lack of money or limited money takes away your options. Simple as that.

I want to have money to afford doing things I care about - such as help saving tigers and trust me, it is easier to do so with money than working merely in some low end NGO fighting an upward battle on 50k a year if you are lucky.

I am 32 and a paper pusher bored to death. I feel like I am losing out on my life, doing things I hate for a lousy 60k a year. I am obsessed with money and constantly feel like my life is worthless if i dont have millions to do the things i like to do. Humans werent supposed to do sit their lives behind a desk for a paycehck. What happened to my dreams? When did money become the answer to it? Most importantly, is being obsessed with it all the time normal? I want to be rich. Really rich.

Voting Results
81% Normal
Based on 157 votes (127 yes)
Help us keep this site organized and clean. Thanks!
[ Report Post ]
Comments ( 8 )
  • Caps90
    13 years ago

    You know being rich isn't going to make you happy. Yeah it will for a little bit, but after a while you will become unhappy again and want something else or to be more rich. I learned it's just a wast of energy and emotions. Go visit people who are way less fortunate than you and then go back to your home. When you do that you will realize how truly blessed you are. The grass is always greener on the other side buddy!

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    2
    2
  • happyB
    13 years ago

    I think it's normal to want to be rich and afford to do things. I want to be rich, too. However, it is never going to happen for me, so I cannot let my lack of riches ruin my life and happiness. If you can't do what you like, then you need to like what you do. Focus on the good things in your life and make it wonderful. Volunteer somewhere; you don't need money to volunteer and your help would be invaluable to whoever you volunteer for.
    PS: I wish I made 60,000 a year! That is about 30,000 richer than me and a lot of people don't make anything at all! Be happy!

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    1
    1
  • Vato
    10 years ago

    You could have been born in a different time, in another country with no money or bad health. Start by being thankful for what you got.
    If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than seventy five percent of the people in the world.
    Working is a part of life. Leo just happens to have looks and talent. Acting isn't easy. You have free will to do what you want and you don't have to be rich to save tigers. Find a job that pays you to save them or spread the awareness of their endangerment. Good luck, don't frown and try to laugh and smile. It's a good life.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • wannabeclear
    13 years ago

    I felt the same as you but I just recently tried to change my life direction by doing a master degree. It ate 2 years of my savings and probably more but I am so happy to have had this experience and I believe that my passion in this new field will get me through and make up the losses. The graduation speech was helpful: when you have such a passion in something you believe in & when that passion moves people, it makes who you are and you can only gain from it

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • 343Boy
    13 years ago

    Sounds like you might have an identity problem, you should probably get the hell out of LA and stop reading about celebrities, and see if that helps.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • hotchickie81
    13 years ago

    I get depressed every day when I think about money. I hate it. Soooo depressed! :(

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • b454
    13 years ago

    I hear ya for the most part. I bust my ass 7 days, 4 nights a week and have nothing to show for it. I know money isn't everything, but, ummm, it sorta is. I just want to be able to not worry about money. I'm sick of living paycheck to paycheck. It blows

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
      -
    • Moonlighting
      13 years ago

      exactly. I mean I just read that Sandra Bullock makes something like 20 million a movie. 20 million dollars. Wtf. I will have to work 20 years or more to make just one million. That is almost a lifetime. I am not greedy, I dont need ot own 4 mansions and 8 cars and have a personal hairstylist that I pay thousands of dollars to travle with me so I look good, but my hard work and education and all, even in the luckiest of circumstances, wont get me even one mansion. When I busted my ass off, I didnt sign up for this.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      0
      0