Fear

So many people feel a general dissatisfaction with life. They feel that they are missing out, or getting screwed out of something, or they have a general malaise hanging over them because they don't feel fulfilled by what they're doing. 
They feel their expectations aren't being met, but if you ask these people what is specifically wrong with their life or what they would change, they couldn't tell you. If you ask them what they actually expect out of life, they stare blankly and can't give you a definite answer. They just know in their heart that something isn't right.
They will complain about vague aspects of their lives, and talk about what they should do, but they don't do any of those things either.
So many of us stay frozen, afraid of everything, and calling that fear by any other name than what it really is.
Fear traps us and inaction seems our only option, so it becomes our only option. We blame the world and punish ourselves and let nameless fear dictate our actions. We let it make us bad people, people that let down ourselves and those we love.
That might seem like a dire assessment, and I guess it is, but instead of letting it keep you down and reinforce the negative, let it free you instead. Just because something is a certain way, doesn't mean it needs to stay that way. If something is bad, you need to first look that bad thing in the eye and acknowledge it. You need these “negative” assessments from time to time so you can navigate away from them.
The only way to overcome your fear is to name it, and fear is everything bad in your life. Fear poisons every aspect of whatever you do and whatever you feel and whoever you are if you let it.
We live our lives stifled by fear and steeped in regret, so now that you know that, knock it the fuck off already. You can be negative, and the only effect that will have on your life will be negative. Or you can be positive, and even though it might not always work out the way you want it to, at least you will know you didn't defeat yourself.
We even live in fear of expecting the best because we think that it will somehow jinx us. That is fear creating the illusion of control, when in fact all it does is hold us back yet again.
If you think about it, your whole life is probably a huge success story that you are selling short. Stop seeing those successes as failures. Stop avoiding the work you need to do to stride forward by blaming shadows for holding you back.
Don't be afraid of things you have already conquered a million times over. Everything you have accomplished, you have accomplished by first overcoming fear. Don't let fear dictate your actions. Don't settle, don't avoid life or confrontation, don't hold yourself back or reign yourself in for no easily identifiable reason. Don't doubt what you're sure of.
Don't be afraid of things you have already conquered.