Hello Stefan.

I have listened to you and your wonderful show on/off for years and enjoyed your insights and honesty. You have created a fantastic podcast, that I listen to very often, when I am doing monotonous, hard physical labor and need to let my mind work a bit also.

For that, thank you!

I have a question and would greatly appreciate your insight!

I am a male in my early thirties.
I have, for over a decade, struggled with quite debilitating pain in my back and neck, which would sometimes result in migraine-like pain in my head.
I have had a lot of test done, worked out regularly, talked to doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors, got X-ray and MRI, taken medication. But nothing have done the trick, until now.

The pain is becoming less and less of a problem, I have perhaps found out what the cause was. And now I am better that I have been for many years.

Problem is.
I am in my thirties, and feel like my twenties. The young, adventurous, forming years of my life, have been taken away from me. I didn’t get the education that I wanted. I didn’t get the experiences that I wanted. There’s a lot of things that I have missed out on, because of my physical pain - and mental despair and anxiety. Sometimes I have felt like a wounded animal - just getting by and make through another day was a success.

Despite all the hardship, I still managed to find the love of my live, and start a family. We have a beautiful 2-year old daughter, which fills me with pride and joy.

But, my problem is that: How do I reconcile with the fact that life in these crucial years haven’t been good, and how do I start to build up my self-esteem in regards to others my age that have achieved so much more, to get on with my professional life and pursue all the things that I so desperately have wanted for a long time.
Besides my family, I don't have a lot to show for my 30 years on this planet and I want that to change, sooner than later.

I hope you will read this on your show and I will definitely be listening.

Thank you and happy new years to you and your family.

(I have just signed up for Locals and will, of course also send a tip)