How do you tackle the feeling of "I'm not where I want to be in life"?

One individuals achievements aren't even that important. We are dust in the universe.  You just need to accept yourself and accept you are here for a reason.  But your  life will be life with Autism ,so don't compare and contrast with NT's, as it will do your head in.

The only way you're going to know if you enjoy something is to try it, maybe you need assertiveness training or something that will build self confidence.I love to cook but I've never wanted to do it as a job, because I know the restuarant style of cooking isn't for me. So somethings won't work out, but you'll be no worse off than you are now, in some ways you'll be better off because you will have gained some experience and know more about what does and does not float your boat.

Whoever told you that adult life is just hard work, told you wrong.

As I age it gets easier to find things to appreciate right in front of me, no matter how skewed from my expectations they are. It is expectations (our own, or those of others for us) that make for disappointments.

I would first remind myself that I am an eternal being with many lives to look forward to so there is no rush. there is only this here now. There are no wrong or right answers, just choices along the byway.There is no "game over". every moment brings it's own openings and closures.

Where ever I am that's where I must start from.

So The first is to relax and enjoy the moments for what they can offer as they arise and steer the boat towards that which feels the most rewarding as possibilities present themselves. Even if I can't "complete" the journey, I have embarked on it and found many other wonderful new perspectives along the way.

I try to think like Leif Erickson who went on many journeys exploring. His dream was to discover the land of his visions, along the way he discovered many other wonders and was learned scholar along the way.

Here is a great little book to start with:

https://www.amazon.com/Start-Where-You-Are-Compassionate/dp/161180597X

Well, I've realized that people rely on others for many things in life, like they call people for services or inquiries, they go to a store to buy and products made by other people, and they rely on others to create opportunities and job openings for them, so not everything is completely independent in the world, more like everything is interconnected. I've realized that NT "independence" is really just having the willpower to initiate and connect with another person, so that they can help you with something you need, and vice versa. 

Start trying to ask for things you need, even if you feel anxious about it. Many opportunities are missed because people are afraid to take them, but there are always going to be opportunities in life. 

Not being where I want to be in life has happened several times in my life.

Each time, I had to think carefully about what I actually wanted and then plan how to make it happen, ignoring anyone else who thought I was crazy. Luckily I'm quite stubborn and good at planning and ideas. It didn't always work out as I thought it would, but I certainly gained life experience.

Nobody can tell you what to do to make your life better - you know best what you like and dislike, what you can or can't manage. But the potential for change is within you - just trust yourself and be determined to make it happen.

I wish you lots of luck.

I feel like society tosses you aside once you reach your mid 20s or something, like you're no longer important or deserving of support and that you're just on your own.

HMO - when I see stuff like this, I do feel sympathy, but I also feel "You're only 27, for *'s sake!!" I mean this in a good way, though. You have another 27 years before you get to my age. This is so much life, and when your health is probably at it's best. Don't be 54 and think the same thing. (I'm not criticizing, and I often think the same thing - I wonder if my 108 year old self is bl***dy annoyed at me!! Probably...)

That's the problem, I get too scared and then just don't take the opportunity. Or I feel like it's going to be a dead-end and it'll leave me in a worse off position and then it'll be even harder to get back up, and I'm basically there.

I never got to experience hanging out with friends when I was younger. Now I'm older, I feel like I'm never ever going to get to do that. Everyone's busy, people have their own lives. I feel happiness when you're an adult never actually happens. That's what I've basically been told - adult life is just work work work and nothing else.

My literal thinking probably doesn't help, admittedly. I don't have any desire to go to university because I know that my money worries would be worse.

I'd want to work something that I know I'll enjoy. Not something I dread going to.

Nah, you've not missed all your chances, things come along all the time, the trick is recognising them and going for it. I've been in places I didn't want to be for much of my life, but I did and have changed things, often with friends and family telling me I shouldn't and that I should settle down. How do you feel about university now, have your thoughts towards it changed?, Uni is a great way of getting away from things, you've got three years to take a totally different path, to study, to mix with different people, to be someone else.

I really feel theres to much pressure on people at too young an age to settle on what they want to do for the rest of thier lives, our lives are so long compared to our grandparents generation, work is less class based and unstable, most people will be made redundant at least once in thier lives and probably end up doing something totally different to the thing they trained for, if they trained in anything specific at all.

Who and what do you feel you'll be playing catch up with and why?

Do you want live to work or work to live? I know in an Asian family the former is the norm and the latter incomprehensible for many, but it's still an option. Being a sucessful person is being one who is happy in themselves, not one who earns loads of money, has the biggest house, or a fleet of cars and shops in luxury places. Theres nothing wrong with a more modest lifestyle.

I'm turning 32 in a few weeks, and I'm in the same position you're in. My folks helped me through a couple of years of college and then it was up to me to figure things out from there. I'm only now more than a decade later starting to wrap my head around what I need to do.

I've been fortunate (I guess) to score high enough with benefits to be able to live unemployed. But it's no long term strategy. Since I've never worked since college, I need to do something to plump up a CV before I can even consider working. So I'm looking into local volunteer organisations to pick up some skills and earn references. Hopefully with enough of that I'll be able to look into something like an apprenticeship and work my way up from there. My hope is something in a writing field, like literature.

One other thing I'm doing is spending an hour each day learning German, as it's also very appealing on a CV. There are other languages that look good too, but since I'm interested in some German music and literature, there's an extra personal investment.

You are the first step to seeing your needs fulfilled. You can't wait for someone to take the initiative for you. I wish I'd had guidance earlier in life, but instead I've got a lot of wasted time to make up for. If there's one upside to this, it's that no one helping me means I don't have to share the satisfaction of succeeding with anyone. That's, of course, not disregarding some lovely people I've met here who have been kind to me.