Assalamu Alaikum - Feeling Stuck and Hoping for Change
Assalamu Alaikum, brothers and sisters. I've been feeling like nothing good is coming my way and I've been miserable for years. Since 2022 things have made even less sense to me, though honestly I've felt lost for most of my life. My parents divorced before I was born because they had trouble conceiving me and my father's siblings pushed him to leave. I didn't see him much through my childhood and teenage years. My mother's side of the family - whom I love and respect - were pretty dysfunctional while I was growing up, and I went through a lot of painful, silly situations. Sadly they still have the same problems now. Over time the bond between my mother's family and their relatives in Michigan faded; they mostly only reach out for funerals or weddings. Because of that I didn't go to many celebrations growing up, unlike other Yemenis I see sharing photos from weddings all the time. I also didn't grow up with siblings, and most of my cousins were younger than me. In 2022 my mother's family moved out of the home I had lived in for 13 years and relocated to New Jersey. Around that time one aunt and her husband moved in because she was having issues with his family. They started fighting about a month later and it became almost daily - the longest peace I saw while I was there was two weeks. I left that summer and stayed with another aunt in Staten Island. I got accepted to a school there after graduating high school two years ago, but my family complained that my classes were at a late time and pressured me to drop them, so I did. I tried again in spring 2024 but withdrew after spring break because family pressure and the stress made it impossible to keep up academically. I moved between my father's house in Maryland and my mother's family in New Jersey. I've spent the past year planning to go back to school but ended up doing nothing, just wasting time and feeling stuck. Watching others with nice cars, steady jobs, businesses, friends, and accomplishments eats at me. I hate feeling this way. I worry I'm meant to be mediocre and sad forever, and some days it's too much. I truly want to change: learn Arabic, understand Islam deeply, stop feeling lost, become a good husband to my future wife, and honor my family. I want to reach my goals and live a meaningful life. Please keep me in your duas and share any advice or practical steps that might help. Jazakum Allahu Khayran for reading.