QOTW: Best year/Worst year

[spaz]

Oh I'm not pooh poohing her. I envy her. I was her. Just wish I could have that feeling again that things will only get better and better. I'm glad she feels that way. I hope she still feels that way in 20 years.

[PrincessFiona]

Oh I'm not pooh poohing her. I envy her. I was her. Just wish I could have that feeling again that things will only get better and better. I'm glad she feels that way. I hope she still feels that way in 20 years.

*hug*

[diggitydot]

I don't know, my general view of life is that it keeps getting better. I had some really dark years in childhood but they're so long ago I don't think about that much anymore.

Word to that, sister.

I don't know if I have a best year or worst year. I've survived some deep shit and am just fine. Things could go south tomorrow and while it would suck giant, hairy, donkey ass, I would survive.

[LadyFoot]

This is tough to answer! So many of my recent hard years have had really good things that ultimately balanced them out.

Probably my worst was in 8th grade. I left a school I loved and a group of super close friends and spent a year being really depressed before life sort if balanced out again. Oh middle school.

The best was probably 2009-2010, my senior year of undergrad, having a sweet internship, enjoying some wonderful friendships, and realizing that I had fallen for my best friend and he loved me back. That was good times.

Then he started medical school. Haha. J/k, that was definitely hard but not terrible years, all things considered.


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[rain_dancer]

Great (but hard) question! I have a hard time finding a year that was outstandingly good or bad - seems like it's mostly good/bad events scattered randomly across my timeline of life. But, if I had to choose...

Worst - Either 2002: graduating high school, trying to pick a college (didn't want to stay in-state, had to for financial reasons, my adolescent self was devastated by this, but my now self knows this was actually great bc I met DH there), saying goodbye to great friends, moving away from home -all very stressful/scary for someone who has trouble adjusting to change! Or 2010: living with a roommate after being married for 3 yrs while I went to grad school and DH started MS 800 miles away - I can count on one hand the number of days I saw him that year, and it sucked

Best - 2013: excitement of Match (and actually matching), ran a marathon, bought our first house, and first 6 months of residency weren't too bad for us. Our first few years of marriage were pretty great too (liked my job and co-workers, loved our neighborhood, relatively little responsibility, lots of time to hike on weekends)

[Curegirl]

I've survived some deep shit and am just fine. Things could go south tomorrow and while it would suck giant, hairy, donkey ass, I would survive.

Agreed, DD.

And Thirteen, I agree. Yes, there are things that come up in life that are awful but we can't say we've been in other people's shoes, especially when we don't know much about each other. Even then, everyone's paths are different. Does youth equate ease? In my experience, no. And I agree with MB and DD in that my life's trials have led me to have a more appreciative outlook on life, even when there are dark moments.

[ladymoreta]

My best year was 2004. DH and I were in our last year of undergrad, and we knew I had a job in the city where he was going to medical school. Neither of us worked any significant hours, but being married meant a lot of financial aid in addition to our scholarships, so we really weren't hurting for money. We had lots of free time to go out to our favorite restaurants one last time, and we often stayed up all night playing video games. It was a fun year!

Worst would be 2006. I had a soul-sucking job, and DH went a little crazy with Step 1 preparation. He hadn't had any rotations he liked at all in MS3. We didn't exactly talk about it, but we were both beginning to question whether medicine had been the right career choice for him, and what we'd do about the debt if he hated all the specialties. I'd been in some pretty dark depression for about a year at that point, too, which made everything worse, and DH drank pretty heavily that year. Glad, glad, glad we haven't had another year like that. I really wish I'd had iMSN - you guys would have talked some sense into me!

[MAPPLEBUM]

Oh I'm not pooh poohing her. I envy her. I was her. Just wish I could have that feeling again that things will only get better and better. I'm glad she feels that way. I hope she still feels that way in 20 years.

Even the most naive deserve to have both their joys and their sorrows taken seriously. Unfortunately my life hasn't just HAPPENED. I will spare you details of my background and history, most of which I am quite sure you have never experienced. I do want to say however that over these months of reading your posts you seem very similar to my mother. You are acutely aware of your struggles and yet seemingly incapable of working through them. Now she has been majorly, if not suicidally depressed for most of my life. I'm not necessarily saying this is you, but I sense the same disconnect from problem to solution. Through her (often paralyzing depression) I've learned I have to fight to find anything -- peace, satisfaction, joy, love -- I know what runs in my veins. And for some of us nothing is freely given. You don't have any idea who I am or where I came from, but maybe you can learn something from me. My life keeps getting better because I believe dissatisfaction is breeding ground for contentment. Tragedy happens to all of us.

[Vanquisher]

I've had a lot of worst years. There was 1988. I was beaten on a regular basis by a stressed out father and mother. We moved from the only home I'd ever known. I felt depressed and alone. The first day a few girls at my new school tried to include me, I was so happy and didn't want to leave my new friends that I peed myself right in front of them. My grandfather whom we lived with for part of the year was starting to decline health wise.

In 1990, another horrible year, I was raped by my boyfriend, my parents and I fought incessantly, my beloved grandfather died, my best friend moved out of state, and I tried to commit suicide. My parents did not get me help.

1997-1998 were pretty horrible. I was newly married. My in-laws hated me and treated me like shit. I gained 100 pounds on fertility treatments and with pregnancy that required bed rest from 6 weeks. I had untreated hyperemesis gravidarum and ended up in the hospital ER several times for dehydration. Once my blood pressure was like 80/50. After I finally gave birth, and although I loved my baby immensely, I suffered from severe post partum depression. I couldn't understand the abuse of my own childhood and reconciling that with this sweet, awesome baby. I ended up in the neuropsych ward on lockdown for suicide watch. One of the drugs they gave me caused a severe allergic reaction, and I had to be watched for several hours for anaphylaxis while they gave me benedryl and high-dose prednisone. We were so poor too. Chad and I both worked and went to school full-time. My transcript is full of Ws. We ended up have a $500/day bill for my week-long stay. We negotiated with them and ended up having to pay half. My MIL visited me during my stay to tell me what a horrible person I was to do this to Chad and my baby and that I needed to snap out of it and be happy.

2008-2009 was horrible. Chad was fired from his residency. We had to get a lawyer and fight his wrongful termination. I saw a psychiatrist and that was helpful, and I rallied to help support Chad and my family as much as I could until we finally signed the settlement papers 9 months later. After that, Chad and I lived in separate states which we thought was the best idea at the time in order to provide stability in our new location for the kids. I spent my days lying in bed, unable to move, depressed again.

2010-2011 was the best year. We bought our dream home, we went on vacations. Our family was coming back together and enjoying time together. Chad didn't have a huge patient base yet, but we had a good salary. It was good.

[spaz]

Vanquisher,

I don't know how you survived all of that. There is no way I could have. You are a strong lady.

[DrBandMe]

The worst time period in my life was most assuredly 2008-10 as I struggled to survive my divorce amd realized what a horrible person I could be of I permit myself the freedom to lash out. The next few years were a lot of transitioning but steadily improved.

Best was definitely the last year. Traveling with DrB for interviews was so much fun! Planning our wedding, planning our move, and just feeling as though I was starting life again with someone who made everything better just by being part of it. The last year has been banging.

[houseelf]

I love the responses to this question. I'm going to decline answering because I really can't choose. However, I'm seeing a theme that sometimes the hardest years are also the best years. It would be far more easy for me to answer what are you most awesome/awful years.

Well answered, all!

[Phoebe]

QOTW: Best year/Worst year

I honestly don't know how to answer. All years had highs and lows. Things in the past don't seem as bad as they did at the time.

[wiva]

This past year was probably the best. Despite the difficulties of intern year, moving away from all family and friends, and the stresses of the first year of marriage, it was pretty awesome. Fun adventure, I found a job I love, am with the man I love, things are great financially, and life is just good.

Worst year was the year that my then-boyfriend-now-husband were struggling with relationship issues because of life stresses, I was in a new job and knew no one, and my surrogate daughter was in a slow, painful decline and ultimately passed away. It was hell.