Well, I compromised with myself on my magazine addiction. I bought subscriptions to my top three, and have barred myself from the rest. Having a subscription is way cheaper than buying in the check out, and I justified it because I pass them on to my mom to enjoy, and when she's done I share them at work. All in all, I'm satisfied with this.How's your magazine-aholicolism coming along?
Also I don't really like the first world problems denigration. If you're down because you're missing your loved one, then it's a real issue that is wearing on you. It's not something to sweep under the rug as inconsequential/vapid.
Seeing your mother struggle through no fault of her own, should remind you to live NOW, and not postpone life until you're FI. If you can't make the accumulation phase even remotely rewarding I think there are grounds for building some more robustness into your mental outlook on life.
Yeah, the first world problems thing.... mostly when I say that it's to remind myself that a lot of people have it really rough--they've lost their homes in a hurricane, they've had loved ones die... and I'm just moaning because we haven't seen each other in a while. I get what you're saying, and I think I've just been in a low phase when it comes to both love life and family life (my mom). I will say it's just hard right now--I feel like I really can't do a lot of the things I want to do because of the situation with my mom. In a very real sense, a lot of the elements of my life ARE on hold because of my family situation, and wishing for that to change is equivalent to wishing my mom was gone--which I don't. I took the day off yesterday and took her lunch and hung out for a while--all we did was watch TV and chat about inconsequential things, but I'm glad to be able to do that. I will miss her terribly when she's gone. And I do feel very guilty sometimes when I think things like "after she's gone I can...." I think it's natural to think stuff like that, but I don't feel good about it. I also feel a little resentful about DBF lately, too--he doesn't work at a 9-5, and he's got a lot more flexibility to come see me than I do him. I wish he would, and I've expressed that to him, but I hear a lot of excuses, some of which are reasonable.
So, more robustness on my outlook on life--yeah. I could use that, I suppose. Actually, I feel good about life in general.... I do feel a little trapped by circumstances just now, though.