Is my life already over?

@theeviloneisyou welcome to MSF. Sorry you feel like life is in a dark place.

I used to compare others then I finally realized I am not like others. I am me and no one else can be me better than me.

If you can stop comparing yourself to others you may discover your super power. We all have one but sometimes we have to look hard.

I wrote a lot and writing is hard to break into as a business. Keep following your heart. That is a way to succeed that may not show up in things but may be the most rewarding experience of your life. @CANDC

First, it sounds like you're probably having a quarter life crisis. Comparing yourself to others never helps and I guarantee that all of those people accomplishing things aren't nearly as settled or secure as they seem. You've beaten cancer and graduated from college, so already you've shown a tremendous amount of strength, will and determination.

If you really can't find a job and aren't sure what to do, I would suggest trying contract/temporary work. It may suck, but it could give you a taste of some various types of jobs and spark an interest you didn't know you had. You could also look into doing some volunteer work, maybe something related to cancer patients since you've been through it. Sometimes when life sucks, helping other people really does help shift your perspective.

Lastly, some things I wish I knew at your age.
1. Your life really is in your hands. You control how you react to things, you can and should cut out negative people from your life, and building anything is all about taking tiny steps.
2. Being uncomfortable is a blessing. It means that something isn't right and the best way to fix that is to try new things. Meet new people, try new hobbies, try different perspectives. For me, googling
any thought or emotion that comes into my head has opened my eyes to whole new worlds.
3. Don't worry about other people. I guarantee that most people are way too wrapped up in their own lives to be hyper focused on yours, so just live and don't be afraid to fail. Failure can actually teach you way more about yourself than succeeding.
4. If all else fails, just focus on what you do have and what you love. A pet, a family member, a friend, a book, a movie, a place. Just stop and appreciate it.

You received excellent advice, but you never came back and never thanked the posters who cared enough to give you that excellent (and detailed!) advice. I haven't not read your other older posts, but I have seen their titles and there seems to be a pattern of your starting a thread and then leaving the forums for a long time. Do you have that pattern IRL, starting things and not following through?

I fear you have been sold a bill of goods. I get it, I had that moment too around your age. When I graduated with a maga cum laude degree in Business Administration I figured the world was my oyster. Nope. I couldn't get a job at the Limited. My first job was an accounting clerk I got paid 18K and I had ZERO health insurance.

I couldn't afford an apartment and was with my parents and dating wasn't exactly something I was excelling at.

But I accepted that I had been lied to and made a plan for the rest of my life.

I had to accept that I likely wasn't going get everything and I had to decide what was most important. So I chose career and pursued that. I went to grad school and did get a job out of that. And no, it wasn't easy. I was even rejected by several grad schools -- eventually I found a way to transfer in.

Now I have two of the three. Career that is a sold one. Money enough to be comfortable and I own a home. IMHO a pretty nice one.

Many of my friends who were married at 25 are now divorced and lost a ton of money with the cost of the ceremony and the divorce.

This is reality. I am sorry so many people are being convinced they are not making milestones.