Why does everything feel so much harder these days?

 I was better off in my 20s.

I honestly never thought I would say that, but sadly it's true. Everything about my life right now is harder than it was fifteen + years ago, including paying my bills and selling books.

I make more money than I did back in my 20s but comparatively, I'm living paycheck to paychek now whereas I had a big chunk of change in my savings account when I hit 30.

I got laid off right before the recession started and from there, well, it's just harder to get back to where I was before, like many other people hit by the falling economy. Rent seems way more expensive. Food prices are crazy for certain items (usually the healthy stuff). At least gas isn't $4 a gallon anymore. Right?

Complaining is something I try not to do here on my blog, I have twitter for that, LOL, but I know for a fact it's not because I'm working less. If anything, I put in more hour between working, writing, and promoting than I did ten years ago.

Believe me, I know this is a "first world problem" and there are MANY more important things going on in the world right now. I also know I'm in a better place than a lot of other people, which is why I try not to complain. However, writing has always been my way of dealing with my personal issues. I put many of my real life situations into my books to see how characters deal with them, which isn't always how I've dealt with things in the past. It's been interesting to see the differences and I've learned a thing or two about myself, like I usually do when I write.

I've always known how lucky I am to have found writing as my outlet. I hope I can break out of this current funk and get back to it, because I know I have more to say, sometimes I just feel like no one is listening.

Do you feel better or worse off than you did in the past?

What do you do when you need to get something off your mind?