Hey, Richard - good for you! Glad to hear that you're an over-comer.
People who take advantage of, or mock other people's problems, are truly weaklings in need of help. Sadly, these people hid in their weakness by being a bully or by being dismissive of other people's problems. When these lame souls are our parents, it's more than doubly sad.
Cody - Do you have written goals? It sounds like you just sort-of-take-it, day by day. Write your daily, weekly, monthly, goals down and then accomplish them. And forget about getting drunk all day - that's for losers only. Keep pushing and you'll get there. Good luck!
Cody,
I know exactly how you feel and hopefully we can all help you by giving you advice and sharing stories. Already your post seems to be very inspirational to others because people are opening up and sharing their stories which allows others to see them for who they really are and the obstacles they had to overcome to do achive their dreams. You should feel good about that.
Everything in life happens for a reason and at the time it is meant to. Think about the good things that have happened over the past five years and realize that if you did start your buisness back then, you may not have met the people you did, experience the happy moments you spent with friends and family. And the brilliant ideas you are coming up with now, may not have been so creative back then. Remember " you cant change the past, but you can ruin the future by worring about the present". Live in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest while you can. Every time you design a new line of clothing, epxress your self in the way that makes you happy and be thankful every day you wake up that you have a gift and are able to use it. I try to put things in perspective now and think of the big picture. How many people in this world can say that they have designed something that someone, somewhere is wearing right now. Your thought in your head was made into a article of clothing. Not many people outrside of this business realize how much work it takes and how creative you have to be to make a line of clothing successful. Not many people do anything with their talents while they are alive, but you are. Doesnt matter how long it took you to use your gift, what matters is that you will never be one of those people who are lying on their death bed saying " what if I would have designed a line of clothing". you are living the dream that most only dream about.
I have been on a spiritual journey for over a year to just be a more positive person and live life each day and do everything I can do. I went through the same thoughts you are having. I used to drink
a lot and take every medicine for depression, acid reflux, insomnia, ulcer and anxiety because I stressed about why I wasted my life away and partied for so long when i knew I wanted to paint and draw and create. I am happy to say ( without any ego) I dont drink, nor take any medication, I have no more acid reflux and no ulcers. How did I do it? Think positive thoughts, read positive books, learn to forget the past, be grateful for what I have, help others and give what I can. Its a journey filled with ups and downs, but I learned to celebrate the good moments and learn from the bad ones. I learned that we all have a choice, spend our energy beating ourselves up for the mistakes we made or spend my energy designing some cool shirts. Creativity is best when the mind is clear. One way I got past this is that I volunteer with kids in the cancer ward just painting with them and spending time with them. What I noticed is that as sick as they are, they never complain, they are happy and smilling for hours while i am there. This is because kids dont think about their disease, they only think about living in the moment and if painting makes them happy for that moment in time then they allow those emotions to take over. Its amazing what you can learn from those who are not as fortunate as you are. Volunteer somewhere for a day and those negative thoughts about your past will no longer seem important. Soon they just disappear and your mind is clear. I like to create whats called " Moments of Happiness". I take a picture of the kids while they are smiling and send it home with the parents. This way they can look at it before they go to bed and not have the image of their child with tubes and machines connected to them. Hopefuly they can sleep better. When a parent and the doctor thanked me, this good feeling lasted all week and I didnt think about my past. These positive feelings allowed me to create desings all week. It was such an amazing experience that I continue to do. Sometimes I wonder if I go there to help them or to have them help me.
Anyways, I apologize for the long winded email, this is one of those posts that just inpsires me the most. Here is one last thought to help you Cody
" Focus on what you are doing, not what you didnt do
and dream about where you want to go, not where you havent been"
Wow, Bougie - that's amazing! I'm so glad you turned your life in the direction YOU want to go.
Where are ya' Cody?
It's extremely important (I'm a Mom, so listen up;-) to surround yourself with successful, positive thinkers who get things done, people who have dreams, people you respect, successful people you would like to be like.
For ten years of my life from 20-30 I married a negative, lazy git (why-I don't know) and got anchored to his utterly disfunctional family. I was surrounded by negativity 24/7. I was so depressed I almost killed myself!
Did I achieve what I wanted to do? No.
Was it a waste? No. I did spend ten years working in various other industries and I accumulated all kinds of skills that have paved the way for my life today. I did spend 10 years knowing how I WAS NOT going to spend the REST of my life!
I left the bum, found a fantastic fella who is an eternal optimist and a real action-oriented, go-getter. He just does stuff. He never talks about doing it. And he believes in me and encourages anything I want to do.
We surround ourselves by like-minded, happy successful friends/family who get things done. We don't hang around anyone that is a downer. We climbed from nothing and grossed 1/4 million last year (not just t-shirts, of course) and it didn't even seem like work as we really enjoy what we do. And we work from home! Part-time!
So long story short, eat well, stay fit, have a positive outlook and you will attract like-minded people who can help you on your way. It's funny, but once you surround yourself by your kind of people, things just happen. And they happen in a big way.
And make goals, write them down and actually do them.
Good luck. You CAN do what you want but no-one is going to knock on your door and do it for you.
__________________
I know almost exactly what I'm doing...
No response from the OP within the whole thread. I think Cody was just on a bender and wanted a bit of self persecution. I think the problem is the bottle and not the time involved in the production of an idea especially at your age.
Probably sounds harsh but your glass is either half full or half empty depending on how you look at it. I hope you work it out.
OMG WOW.
I want to say thank u to everyone who's replied.
Each of your responces mean alot, so thank u everyone.
Its just that I'm doing a high end line, and so much has happened in the world that I've missed out on and could have been apart of. But I have good days (mostly) and u know what? I have the future, so it's good!
But if I could give 1 word of advise to young people wanting to start a clothing line, it is:
when your in high school and if u know for sure u wanna do fashion, do the schooling for it on weekends and on weekends! Do it then so then when graduation comes u can come out with your line the following season. Like what I'm trying to say is if your not gonna go to college for your career schooling, do it in your spare time in high school. BEST ADVISE EVER!!!
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln.
I'll spend 4 hours drinking a beer, 1 hour looking for my chain saw, 5 minutes cutting down the tree, and 55 minutes looking for a neighborhood kid that wants to make $20 hauling the thing to the dump!
Re: having thoughts on throwing in the towel 
