u/Frugal_Octopus

Don’t even know where to put this, but I started a chat asking about massage balls & stretching, which snowballed into telling it more information, culminating in it giving me this journal version of my experience with a major IT company over the past 12ish years. I found it helpful, maybe reading it will help you in some way.

I spent over a decade building a career around being the person who could survive chaos. I worked in a high-stress IT environment that kept expanding while the support around me kept shrinking. What began as a local role with a clear scope gradually became a sprawling set of responsibilities across multiple domains, systems, and projects. As the years went on, I watched my team disappear, my workload grow, and the human connection that once made the job bearable slowly vanish.

I took pride in being capable and dependable. I handled major migrations, communicated with hundreds of users, managed constant technical complexity, and carried responsibilities that had once belonged to entire teams. But no matter how much I did, it was never enough. The work was rarely recognized, the expectations never stopped growing, and the reward for competence was always more pressure.

Over time, that environment changed me. I became isolated, physically tense, emotionally exhausted, and disconnected from myself. Remote work during COVID intensified everything. My home stopped feeling like a place of rest and became an extension of work, stress, and confinement. At the same time, I was dealing with serious health issues, including respiratory illness, heart surgery, unmanaged bipolar disorder, and the long-term effects of chronic anxiety. My body was carrying the burden as much as my mind was.

What I eventually realized is that I had tied too much of my identity to a title and to the idea that enduring suffering proved my worth. I had mistaken survival for success. I thought being highly skilled and indispensable would lead to stability, recognition, or fulfillment, but instead it left me depleted. The job paid more, but it was costing me my health, my peace, and my sense of connection to other people.

Changing careers felt risky, especially because it meant earning less and stepping away from the identity I had built. But the move into a hospital support role has been one of the healthiest decisions I have ever made. I now work in a place where I can help people directly, move throughout the day, connect with coworkers, and leave work at work. I feel useful in a way that is immediate and human. I get to support my team, mentor younger coworkers, and contribute in ways that align with who I actually am.

The most surprising part is how much my mental and physical health improved once I was in a healthier environment. My back pain decreased. My mood improved. My stress level dropped. Treatment for bipolar depression helped, but so did changing the conditions I was living in every day. I’ve learned that my pain was not just about an old injury; it was also a reflection of stress, tension, and a nervous system that had been overloaded for too long.

What I understand now is that work affects health in profound ways. Money matters, but so do purpose, boundaries, movement, connection, and feeling valued. I did not fail by leaving a prestigious, higher-paying role. I made a necessary correction. I chose a life that is more sustainable, more meaningful, and more humane.

I am still rebuilding financially, but I am no longer sacrificing myself to prove that I can endure. I am happier, more present, and more connected to the people around me. I no longer want a career that only rewards me for surviving chaos. I want a life that lets me participate in it fully.

Hello fellow Lincoln folk!

I’m interested in potentially taking some firearm trainings/certifications.

Not concealed carry permit related or anything like that, just looking for education options.

Does anyone have experience with basic handgun/shotgun/rifle training locally? I found some info online but having a hard time finding schedules or pricing information.

Hello!

After consuming pornography nonstop & flogging my log multiple times a day since childhood, about three days ago I decided to start nofap after talking with my wife.

We had a frank & good discussion about the topic & I finally realized how much I was lost in the sauce so to speak.

Anyway, things are going well so far. I left any nsfw subs, & I never had any of that on my other socials. I’ve honestly been kind of surprised so far how mild the urges have been to look at porn. Mostly it’s the habit that I’m breaking, I used to basically watch porn at the same time every day after I got home from work.

I found myself just aimlessly standing in the bathroom, not knowing why exactly I was there, until I realized I was there for my fap session. I simply just went to a different room & the urge went away easily.

Now here’s my question I’d like some input on from friends.

I’m a very big man. I’m currently around 330 pounds. I’ve been up over 400 before, & I’ve been down to 199 before (which with my body type is a size medium shirt for reference). I had great weight loss success on keto, but just could not stick with it, mostly because it’s expensive to eat as much meat as I was.

I have noticed since I cut out porn, my eating habits also seem to have changed. I’m eating less frequently & don’t have as much “food noise” as I would before.

Has anyone else experienced this? I did some searches but the most relevant post I found easily was over a decade old. Would love some insight from others on if they experienced this & if it continued.

It has me really hopeful that I can turn my situation back around. My wife stayed on her weight loss journey when I failed so I always feel lesser when I compare myself to her. Hoping this is part of a new healthier me for the future.

Thanks for reading, would love to hear from you.

Sorry if the title is dumb, I can’t think how to word this succinctly.

I sucked at adventure games as a kid. I tried so many Sierra games & other adventure & point/click type games. Also played the older ones where they used the parser & you just typed actions in.

I’ve always been super interested in the worlds of these type of games, but I was also atrocious at them.

Does anyone have a recent (like 2015+) game that has the feeling of exploration & fun found in so many Kings Quest type games, while being accessible to people who just seem to be bad at the genre?

Don’t care if it’s point & click, 2D/3D, presentation factors don’t matter so much as something fun to explore that I won’t get stuck in or need to have the walkthrough pulled up the entire time.

Sorry for the novel, thanks for the consideration.

I just beat the Chrimatic Ballet at level 35 & it felt pretty good after about 5 tries to finally get the parry timing down. Fun fight I thought.