Valid. I dreamed of where I am today. Living it doesn't feel like it was your dream, but remember how bad you wanted it when you were a teanager and appreciate where you are now and how far you have come. Great to reflect.
There are studies that show daily practices of gratitude change the brain. If you can, write down three things you are grateful for every night before bed. No matter how bad your day was, it will put you in a better head space.
Now, of course, I don't routinely follow my own advice. But when I did, it had noticeable benefits that have persisted to this day.
Granted there's plenty to be unhappy about, but that's too easy and not rewarding at all. Anyone can plainly see what's bad. But to find the good, it's sort of a treasure hunt before bed. What was awesome today? As it turns out, plenty. Maybe even more was bad, but the good parts were still good, and that's enough most days.
It's been a really interesting experience and it's useful from not just a gratitude/appreciation perspective but also it's turned into an invaluable tool for keeping track of how time passes.
You know, when you can look back over the days and see even just one thing that you did each day, they each become a little more memorable.
It can also be handy sometimes when you have a mystery receipt, and you're trying to work out what you spent $12 on 3 weeks ago, on a random weeknight. "Oh yeah, that's the day I went out for ice-cream after work because I'd had a bad day", or whatever.
I wrote a post about it a while back, if you're interested in hearing more: https://nitemice.com/2018/05/12/daily-highlights/
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/14/912749547/why-nobody-feels-ri...