Our stories
I know what you mean by that @TheRenegade345! A year and a half goes pretty quick, but it feels like it's an eon when you are thinking about waiting that long to hit a goal. Imagine how you'll feel when it's done though, even small achievements feel good, so something that is that much work will feel great. How are you going with motivating yourself on the assignments?
Yeah, it's understandable why people might look to that culture for answers to begin with, but a lot of it won't get the results most people want. We all want to be loved, and lying or manipulating people doesn't get you that, which seems to be a flaw in a lot of the teaching within that community. It's great to hear you have good values and principles. It can be tough juggling that with expectations at times though, right? One lesson that is helpful to remind yourself of is that even people in relationships aren't always happy, some of them just have someone else to be miserable with. Others do find someone who uplifts them and helps them go after their dreams. Have you heard of the book The Courage To Be Disliked? Reviews have said that's a good book for letting go of expectations and not letting the way others treat you become/affect your identity & self esteem. So many books out there to read with great advice, but it's often only a paragraph or a sentence that can alter our perspectives.
You're not pathetic at all! I know that's tough to believe from someone who doesn't know you that well, but already in here you've shown yourself to be intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, a romantic, a musician, someone driven enough to devote over a year to study... You might not see all of that yourself, but others can. Speaking of finding love, Tony Robbins has a video on how he met his wife, he said that he used to approach dating like most people do in their late teens/early twenties and just wanted a relationship (and any would do), so he kept either being rejected because he approached women that he had nothing in common with, or only having short relationships with women he met because something would come up that showed they weren't right for each other. He realised he'd been taking a scattered approach because he hadn't really asked himself what kind of person he wanted to date. He was really specific in his goal setting in other aspects of life, so he applied that to a future relationship. He wrote out 5 or 6 pages of every possible trait he hoped for in a soul mate, then everything he didn't want. Then he went over and over the list slowly removing things that weren't 100% essential. Then he sat down and wrote out a list of the things he would need to be or embody to attract the soul mate he dreamed of. Once he had that list, he spent over a year not dating, just focusing on designing his life so he could be the man that attracted his soul mate. One day he was on a train with his now wife and he read out the list to himself and realised she was the soul mate he had dreamed of. Then he proposed. Quite a modern romantic story, but the key was him deciding who he wanted to be, or who he had to be, to win the heart of the woman he wanted to marry. Anyway, long story, but if any of it helps you then it's worth sharing 
What other hobbies do you have? How amazing to see Paul live. Did he play many of the Beatles catalogue, or did he stick ot his solo stuff and later career with Wings? Hope you're feeling better today!
Motivation is one of the greatest challenges facing all of us @TheRenegade345 
There's a quote that is a good reminder, "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat and waited for things to happen to them. Rather they went out and happened to things."
it's not always easy, especially when you're a romantic who wants love, but it sounds like you're doing some great things to be the right person when you do meet someone who sees you for you. Finding love can be tough. You're right about personality, values, principles, being more likely to keep a relationship together, but it's often fun, relaxed, playfulness that opens the door. In the dating world now, many women (especially in your age group) receive so many messages that it's difficult to see who is a good guy and who isn't. Being patient and not writing someone off if they don't respond in the way you hoped initially can help bring down some barriers, it shows confidence if you're not upset when someone doesn't want the same thing as you and sometimes when we've been hoping for something for a while, it influences our behaviour and how we react to rejection. You seem like a great guy, and being 6'2" & in good shape will definitely help with the initial when you do meet someone. Be patient, keep focusing on being the best you that you can be and things will get better 
So cool that Paul played a range of his catalogue! Hearing Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite! live would be amazing, Sgt Peppers was one of the most played albums in my childhood home.
Philosophy is a fascinating subject to explore. Meditations is a great book. If you're reading some classics, have you read much Ovid? Seneca is also a good read if you're interested in Stoicism.
Found this interesting infographic in an old folder and thought you might enjoy it @TheRenegade345. Hope you're having a fun saturday
