i don't buy that any situation is so hopeless, you're powerless to improve it. at least in the context of this field and its line(s) of work.

sounds a lot more like learned hopelessness making it harder to respond to stress with radical change because of (normal and human) fears of the unknown.

at some point though responsibility for the circumstances, the feelings, the stress -- the good, bad, and ugly or easy, hard, and nearly impossible -- has to be taken.

there's only one life to live. we owe it to ourselves and others to do more than -- to try not to -- just "roll over and play dead", so to speak.

humans have survived a lot and have adapted to just as much if not more.

if i ever allowed myself to even stay at any of my former jobs coming up in my life when i was paycheck to paycheck because of not making rent or just being flatout broke and homeless, i would have not progressed my career, or life, in any meaningful way, and just fed the negative feedback loop influencing what feels like a miserable existence (even privileged as it were).

can't hold myself hostage. and also, i can't hold those around me hostage as consequence of my non-action, either.