The unfulfilled goals and wants are a major issue, mental illness prevents us from achieving our dreams so we are forced to adapt. The main fear of many here is that we fear never having a partner, not having kids, not working, not having any friends, not owning a house, being unwell all time,
These are just some of the issues which face the mentally ill, you’re very strong if you can accept not achieving any or all of these goals which “normal” people take for granted.
Yeah survival is the name of the game 
That’s my situation. In a way, I’ve made my peace with it. Sometimes I have this quasi-fantasy that maybe before I was born I was given the option of a life like this in place of something that was worse.
What made you deserve this as your best option when others live fulfilling lives. Life just ain’t fair I reckon
I wouldn’t go that far, it certainly makes things more difficult but it’s still possible. I agree that we need to adapt and redefine our dreams. There’s always hope.
There are many different ways a life can go wrong. It is possible to be very successful and encounter catastrophe. That might be worse because the fall is from a higher place.
I never finished college, and my first marriage was horribly abusive. But I raised a son with the help of my parents, and I have always worked. I am also now remarried. Things are harder. Each day feels difficult and I hate that, but each day is possible and I focus on that. I do what I can when I can. My son will achieve more than I have, even with a mental illness. By focusing, not setting a strict time or unrealistic goals, and by just doing what you can each day, it doesn’t have to be so bleak. Some pople actuslly attain quite a lot. I’ve read books by some of those people. But the rules and requirements get thrown out the window when your focus must be to survive. What you can when you can.
I changed goals. The same level of ambition and the same intensity at what I do, but what I do is practically the opposite of what I originally set out to do with my life.
Some of it is giving up dreams, yes, but I damn well replace them with new ones just as challenging. In a way, I never let go of ambition and goals- the goal may be taken away, but a new one replaces it as well as possible.
I was doing all I could to become an officer in SEALs and now I am doing all I can to become a psychologist. Well, psychologist with schizophrenia is actually more unusual than a SEAL, by a lot.