Please tell us your general age group (under 20, 20's, 30's, 40's etc.)
Early 40's.
And then tell us how you perceive life.
Do you think life is easy/hard, a struggle?
My life frankly was a bitch for many many years, and I never realized how much until I changed my life and then looked back and realized what a trudge it had been for me both in childhood and as an adult trying to maintain an untenable situation. It was horrifically painful. I feel like I lost some years in the middle, things were so bad for me. But now I think life is wonderful, even if I never accomplish anything "hugely successful" in this world -- just continue to work, eventually retire, do my thing, spend time with people I love and enjoy, and then eventually die. Life is good, life is tasty, life is a joy.
Do you feel like you have a lot of control over how your life goes?
There is a lot in life that we cannot totally control. However, we can definitely choose how we face anything that happens to us; and when something is something we just cannot tolerate, then we have the ability to change it. It might cost us a great deal in order to make that change, but I think that large life changes are very possible. We just have to know what we most want, and what is worth sacrificing in order to get it.
Have you found a specific outlook towards life that helps you a lot? (for example, you have learned that perseverence is the key to success or that tolerance is the key to relationships).
Well, tolerance has worked well for me -- adaptability is a natural instinct that I think is very very useful. However, sometimes adaptability can leave you trapped in a bad situation that you should be working to change.
I think perseverance is underrated. There is a LOT that can be achieved if you just don't quit. You don't even need an elegant solution. I have seen so many people pursue something inelegantly, and basically achieve success because of brute force and repetition. Also, a lot of things can be resolved simply by breaking down the problem into components, then solving each little piece; the solution doesn't have to be ingenuous, a lot of it's just grunt work. You break down the problem and then work the issues until they're dead and done, and you can eventually get anywhere -- to put it another way, you climb a mountain by taking one small step after another until you reach the top, nothing fancy about it.
Building relationships even on casual levels also can achieve a lot; opportunities open up when you know enough people. People cannot offer you opportunities when they don't even know you exist or what you care about; but when they do, you'd be amazed at what doors might open.
In life, you also need to take risks. The majority of people can't achieve anything of value without staking something on it and investing in trying to get it.
Finally, there is a personal element in happiness. Each of us is different, but there are things that leave us content, happy, and feeling good about our lives, and so we can pursue those things. It's not always articulatable, it's not always rational, but you have to honor those personal needs. Figure out what leaves you feeling alive and content, and then do it. Don't waste your life trying to make everyone else happy besides yourself or trying to live out their dreams, if they don't coincide with yours. You need to be happy with your own life, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it.
Do you have goals in your life that you think you will achieve or are your goals out of reach?
I dunno. I don't think goals are "out of reach," I think we can always pursue goals, and actually there is joy in the journey of that pursuit, even if we never get to the end. Endings can sometimes be a let-down, anyway. And what you reach one dream, does life end? No, we just pick another dream to pursue.
I still hope to publish some music someday; finish at least one novel; climb a mountain; and find love / remarry.