What decision in life worked out well for you?

It can be anything related to not doing something you always wanted to but never did, a mistake you realize you shouldn’t have made, or feelings of not being successful enough. Feel free to share your thoughts.

I earn enough. Here are my problems: 1. Don’t have friends who I can talk to 2. Dating life is weird and complicated (can’t find someone I’m truly happy with) 3. Don’t enjoy living in blr 4. Don’t have tight bond with siblings or parents Suggest me some ways in which I can improve. Please only suggest things that worked for you.

My overall education started a bit late than normal people due to my fathers transfers and school admission rules. Consequently when I applied for JEE Advanced back in 2017 i was 19.5 years old. I got it but wasnt satisfied so dropped a year and got a better rank. I was 20.5 years old when I finally joined IIT. Somewhere subconciously throughout my college life i felt that I did achieve what I wanted to but really late. I know theres nothing I could do about it but this was something still killing me inside. Most of my batchmates where 18 year olds and even the ones who dropped where at most 19. I always wanted to pursue my masters and phd but somewhere at the back of my mind I feel I would have to go theough the same feelings again. It just kills me so much inside. Currently I have completed 2 years as a software engineer and I am 26 years old. On one part my mind tells me that I am made for much more than just an IT job and should go to academia. On the other hand it feels like I am too old for it. I dont know what to do. I am not able to rationalize my thoughts. I am not able to understand how can I bring myself to overcome my fears and achieve what i really want in life.

This question is to people who are in their late 20s or older. Life shows its ups and downs to pretty much everyone. And when you are younger, living with adverse situations that impact your mental peace and health, paving your way becomes difficult. All this can lead to uncertainty about future, can make you doubt yourself and your decisions, or can make you think whether you would be able to make something of yourself or not. If you ever felt like this, how did you handle it? What would you tell your younger self about how to navigate through these situations and feelings?

For me it has happened a lot and I am grateful for most of the times it has happened.

“You should get married on time” To the married folks, would it be different if you would have married later in life? From a personal or objective POV, what’s your take 32+ M here and not yet married.

Have any fortunate or unfortunate incidents or events, such as marriage, a random meeting with someone that changed your life, a transformative interview/podcast, or a tragic loss like someone's death, significantly impacted your life?