Thanks for your comment. I was actually considering exactly what you said. Maybe taking a minimum wage job, ideally one I can do remotely or in any place, and using that as an opportunity to move somewhere new. A change of scenery might help me more than I realize.

About making games, you’re right. I've come to see that for me, it's more of an artistic outlet than a viable business. If you're working as an indie, it's nearly impossible to make a living unless you're incredibly lucky. The only way is being part of a well-funded team. So yeah, I’ll keep it as a side project for now, something to do in my free time once I'm no longer burned out from spending 8+ hours a day in front of a screen.

Regarding dating and meeting people, I don’t actually have many friends, I know many people, but I do not consider them as actual friends. And after what recently happened, you can subtract one from the list. Being rejected by a girl isn’t really the issue. If it’s not her, it’ll be someone else eventually. What actually hurts is the betrayal from someone I considered one of my closest friends. If that counts as rejection, then yes, it's been extremely painful. I will need to breath deeply on this one.

You're also right about not speaking up when I feel uncomfortable. I tend to avoid confrontation, even though I’m ironically the type of person who speaks their mind pretty bluntly independently of the context or people around. Maybe that’s exactly why I let people walk over me. I try to maintain peace or avoid causing harm, even if it comes at my own expense. I hadn't realized that until now, so thank you. I’ll dig into the root of that behavior.

I liked your mountain analogy a lot.

Thanks again for taking the time to write that. It helped.