I wish I was the same optimistic young lad I once was, but society is becoming more of a rumble pit for seeing who can come out on top. We try go get fit, dress well, etc in the hopes of attaining higher level mates. We try to have the best resume, have the best interview with all the best buzz words and best tactics to get the interviewers to think we are the best candidate. We try to place the highest bids on houses that used to cost maybe 2.5-3 years worth of our total annual salary, but now for more like 5+ years our total salary. It's kind of exhausting.
I just realized we don't get to just go to college, go work and have a wife and kids all while being like a middle ranked employee. Now it's more like you almost have to make it into the upper circle at work, then you when hit a brick wall where your raises can't even keep up with inflation and you need to go do some other soul sucking thing, all to live in an okay looking house that was like $150,000 like 10 years ago that is like $400,000-$500,000 now.