I'm 53 and I've spent the last 4 years caring for family members who've been horribly ill. And during this time I've also seen neices & nephews and young co-workers getting married, buying houses, having babies, etc.
The thing is that we all go through different seasons in our lives. Some of us deal with sad and difficult situations when we're young - death of a parent or desertion, our own injury or illness, etc. It usually happens as we get older but the young are not immune. In the last 4 years my FIL was diagnosed with a horrible illness and was dead in 6 months, my MIL was very ill and has never recovered and now lives in a nursing home. My own mother has had heart valve replacement, eye cancer and ovarian cancer, was given 6 months to live (2 years ago) and now lives in a nursing home and is living through what is likely to be her final illness. My husband and MIL were in a horrible auto accident and my husband was temporarily paralyzed and eventually needed spinal surgery in his neck before he could recover and return to work, and my teenage daughter tried to take her life a coupld of times and has since been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.
WHEW!
I've sat in a few different hospital parking lots in my car crying and praying for God's blessing and grace, for strength and endurace, etc. He ALWAYS came through.
The bottom line is that life is difficult. We have these awesome moments - like the birth of a child, or the satisfaction of loving a good spouse, or getting that once in a lifetime vacation. But if you need those things to keep you going or to feel contentment then your life will be filled with emptiness and sadness since those moments are fleeting.
My husbnad and I now have a better marriage than we ever did before all of this trauma. We have a deeper love and security with eachother. We've been through deep valleys and high waters together and that's so much more satisfying than good sex.
A good life is not about the perfect house or job, or getting the cutest outfit for our 5th grader, or even a great soccer game or report card. Heck, with teenagers, I've learned that they are going to be the person they are, not the person I want them to be so I can be a lacrosse mom. And that's the way it's supposed to be. All those things are the icing on the cake. The cake itself is the people you love. Everything else doesn't really matter.
People of my mom's generation knew this becuase they grew up in the depression with very little. They were teens and young adults during WW2 and they went without.
We were made to love and be loved (perfect Valentine's day theme!) and that's all that really matters. When my kids were preschoolers my husband almost left our marriage and I was ready to be devastated. But I got on my knees and prayed and asked God to show me if He was real. And He did.
YOu will have your tough moments in life. You may alreayd have had some, but there will be more. But we live in the best country in the world, we have access to more than 2/3 of the rest of the world can even imagine. We are blessed.