Ho w do you define it? Is it by the same criteria you’d use for people without serious mental illness?
Things that immediately spring to mind are job or no job = failure in my case
Never went to university =failure
I don’t feel depressed but feel worthless a lot of the time. It can be hard to see anything positive about myself.
Of course not. I’ve toned down my expectations a lot. I was indeed able to work for 2+ years after coming down with sz, but many don’t and I totally understand that. I am single and unemployed right now, but don’t feel like a failure. I am waiting for better times, which I’m not sure will come anytime soon, but while waiting I indulge in a few hobbies and keep a positive attitude.
Id say being successful would be to conquor yourself and be yourself.
The greatest measure in life is how much love you showed so and when you find yourself we’re much more capable of love.
Illness is actually not something that stops you from being loving and successful, but infact is a propellant. It drives them in to greater sanctity.
Thats why they say “blessed are the poor in spirit”. That includes those who are in poor health.
Heavy burdens are given to the strong.
Where did you hear that?
If that was true, why do so many choose to end their lives?
Why do so many struggle with what was given to them?
It’s a lottery.
I mean there is free will isnt there?
People make mistakes and misanalyse the circumstances of their lives and take the easy way out. Had they persevered they would neccesarily have become the strongest (assuming many of their hardship werent their own doing through vice).
I mean doesnt carrying weight grow muscle? Virtue is like a muscle from what i gather.
Nature abhors a vacuum. There is harmony in the happenings of this world. If we love eachother, strive for virtue and have an understanding of how things will work out for the better, not only is life bearable but even torture.
I feel like I have failed by every objective standard of life. Sometimes I really hate myself. I still have hope that I can gain some kind of success, if not in a job, maybe at something else.
Success is relative to your situation
I feel like I am a failure because I am not winning the lottery or a movie actor - the latter I don’t have the ‘look’ for anyways 
Seriously though, it’s all down to the things you do for those around you
Having a job has a degree of social status in society, but there are many who fight this system and refuse to take part for various reasons.
University is something you can always do flexibly or part time.
When I did my course, I think the oldest there was like 58, and he was an ex-homeless man who got support from a local church with housing, so he got into education later in life
Quite commendable to going from being homeless to studying at a top 20 UK university…
Some kids who go straight to University from school don’t know the meaning of life, and how crucial education is. They’d in the main rather spend all the loans and grants on getting drunk - even though the tuition fees are so high these days. Student culture sucks, and I never took part in it much
My hobby,genealogy,is a frustrating one. I’m into the DNA side of things(cousin matching). So many people make their trees private. It then becomes difficult whether to approach them and request access to their family tree.
My barrier to going to university was never the academic side of things,(avg IQ Oxford/Harvard student =125-130)but the independent living/practical/ side of things. Things have improved a bit, but not enough to make that a viable option.
Oh, academically I’m still going strong. I recently passed two online classes with flying colors: one from Harvard, the other one from MIT. What leaves a lot to be desired is motivation and self-confidence. Someone once told me it all stems from language, how our mother tongue is internalized during our first years of life. But what can I do about it? Should I try some NLP techniques? No motivation for that either 
Definitely self confidence has always been a problem for me + stability of performance. Near brilliant one day,struggling to achieve mediocrity another day.
success.
don’t measure yourself, @firemonkey .
It’s something that plagues many normies too, as far as I’ve been able to notice.
Some comments from those who make me look like a stand in for the village idiot.
Sucess or failure are attributed to you by society. Since I don’t care for what people think I really don’t think in these terms. I believe sz made a much stronger person and for that I am thankfull. As to people that take their lives I see nothing wrong with that too, I wish assisted suicide was considered positive and accepted. But I think most people kill themselves under a depression state. That is why I never miss a dose of my meds. Depression can make you do things you wouldn’t otherwise.
I’ve been struggling with the whole success/failure thing again recently.
It would be nice to feel like a success. I don’t know why feeling like a failure stings so much.
Maybe because I tried so hard to avoid being one all my life.
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