How to survive without a support system part 2

Now I'm not going to say "everything's going to be okay" because I don't know if they will or not. Every person is different, everybody has extenuating circumstances. All I can talk about is what I've been through and what I felt/thought at the time. I hope everything does go okay for you, I truly do, and I hope you feel the same for me. After high school has got to be one of the toughest times for teenagers, all of a sudden the life you've grown accustomed to is completely gone, and now you either have to adapt and evolve, or be lost to the wayside. I didn't have the luxury of time to get used to my new surroundings, as a bird pushes her young out of the nest it's either fly or hit the ground, that was my situation. All of my friends, including my best friend, suddenly were all gone, as if they had never existed, all shipped off to military careers. Sure I could have joined them, but that was not my desire... So what do you do? Everybody you were ever close to for pretty much the entirety of your life, people you could tell anything to, all gone and you're alone. I lived with my Mom at the time who was a huge advocate of "tough love" could I now use her as my support?

The answer was no, it was time to take flight and begin living in the real world. Mom's rules were simple, get a job and start taking college classes, or move out. So that was my new world, a 5.25$ an hour job, and 12 hours at the local community college. That was my life for about a year, and in that year the number of friends I had was 0, all my life was was work, school, home. I think that's where the bulk of my self dependence grew, there was no other option. Sure, I did meet people in class and at work, and they were mainly really friendly, but nowhere near anybody I could use as any kind of support. Only myself, only me, and that's how I saw the world. How did I cope with this loneliness? There was no time to think about it, I had to work and go to school, or I would be homeless. The one source of comfort and love I had was my main puppy Pearl, animals can be an amazing source of love if you give them the chance. At a certain point though, I realized this sort of life would eventually be the end of me if I continued on this road... A change was needed and a chance at new life was approaching.