[CantExplain]

I feel guilty about asking for support when I'm so much better off than other people.

It seems so petty to complain about being out of work when the house is paid off and we can survive quite comfortably on my wife's income.

This probably isn't even the right forum...

CE. you pour a lot of support out to other people. You deserve that same support you generously give to others.

Your feelings and unhappiness and pain are just as valid as everyone's. You deserve support, care and validation too.

Well, work is important for many people. Income is just one part of it - it's also to do with less tangible things such as identity and sense of purpose in life. Not having a job would be one of the worst things that could happen to me, so I can perhaps relate.

[Argonautomobile]

I don't know why people are so fond of saying you aren't allowed to be sad because others have it worse. Nobody ever says you can't be happy because others have it better. It's not a competition.

It's okay to ask for support, CE. Hang in there.

[brillskep]

There are more needs than just financial needs. I think it's important to keep striving wherever you find yourself in life, even if your difficulties are different from other people's.

[Salmon77]

I don't think it's petty at all. At least for me, when I was out of work I was kind of at loose ends and it was a time when I did a lot of thinking and self-evaluation. It's hard not to, I think, when you're figuring out how to use your time and what you want to do next. Everyone needs support sometimes.

[Favorite Jeans]

I don't think it's petty at all. I'd be in rough shape if I was out of work.

If you are worried about others who have it worse, decide on something you can do to help and do that thing. But don't stop getting support for yourself. Does that benefit anybody? People who are in more dire straits than you—people who are hungry, or homeless, or living in war zones—will not benefit from your increased emotional distress or be harmed by you seeking support. It's not a zero-sum game.

[leejosepho]

Originally Posted by CantExplain

I feel guilty about asking for support when I'm so much better off than other people.

Guilt would be a matter of did-something-wrong fact, not an emotion, and it is no crime that not all of us have the same struggles and challenges. It bothers me also that I do not (actually cannot) work for an income, and I am humbled by the fact I have no financial struggles because others are paying the bills. There are times when I know at least some people might consider even many of my daily challenges petty in comparison to their own, and then is when I need to remember I am here to try to be supportive for them no matter what their thoughts or responses might be.

[satsuma]

Originally Posted by Favorite Jeans

I don't think it's petty at all. I'd be in rough shape if I was out of work.

If you are worried about others who have it worse, decide on something you can do to help and do that thing. But don't stop getting support for yourself. Does that benefit anybody? People who are in more dire straits than you—people who are hungry, or homeless, or living in war zones—will not benefit from your increased emotional distress or be harmed by you seeking support. It's not a zero-sum game.

That's a nice way of looking at it Favourite Jeans, thanks!

CE, I also believe you deserve support. It's hard to be out of work, I'm sorry.