By this time last year I was starting to enjoy my first summer with a driving license, finishing the first renovation on my recently bought home (no mortgage!), choosing a venue for getting married in September, and earning a decent salary (while working from home) for the first time of my life. Things were looking good!

I started to make plans: renovate the rest of the house, taking my extended family on a trip, and maybe eyeing a second house as an investment.

I was fired the first day I set foot on the office as soon as I got back from my honeymoon on october. No explanations beyond "you cost too much", when I had got the raise without asking. No negotiation, no talking about new arrangements. I got depressed, and then angry, and then depressed again... you get the idea.

I tried to keep myself current, freshen up my skills with some new languages, but I've been unable to think about coding since then. As soon as I see a screenful of code I get angry again.

And then 2020 and you know what happened. Fortunately I still had some savings. The fact that I feel like this and still have it better than many, many people makes me sad, and compounds on the frustration.

So TL;DR: what have I learned?.

- Don't get too invested in your plans.

- Control your expectations.

- So much of life is outside your control.

- F*ck "where do you see yourself in five years?"

(edit: reduced typos and profanity)