CAUSE

When life feels so miserable that it doesn't seem living, the suffering comes from these sources: 

1. Wishing things were different than they are.
   

2. Wishing you had things you don't have (a job, a loving spouse, lots of money).
   

3. Thinking about the terrible things that happened in the past.
   

4. Thinking that the future will only bring more terrible things.

 If you can clear your mind enough to just "watch" these types of thoughts, you'll begin to recognize them and see what your mind is doing to you. Just knowing this fact will begin to give you some level of relief.

EXPLANATION

When you wish things were different than they are, which is a very common malady, you are focusing on lack. Lack is a negative state of mind which will, as you run the thoughts around over and over in your mind, bring you nothing but misery -- and yet solve nothing.

When you want things you don't have, which is a subset of the previous issue, you ignore what you do have. Imagine, for a moment, a woman who has a healthy and happy four-year-old son. She becomes pregnant hoping to have a daughter to complete her family. The child is lost to a miscarriage. The woman is devastated. Yet there is a second woman who has never been able to bare a child, and modern medicine even declares it a lost-cause. The first woman already has what the second woman "would do anything for", yet she is miserable.  Many of us spoil our current "good" situation by wasting our time and energy wishing it was different or "better".

The mind loves to replay the past, and project the future. This is part of it's strategy for taking you over and keeping you from living in the present moment (which is where you are free). In your case, the negative past is being shoved in your face, and your mind is trying to convince you that your future is nothing but more of the same.

All, I repeat ALL, thoughts about the future and past are a complete and utter waste of your time and energy, and they can cause quite a bit of misery. The mind is very clever and seductive, but it is also very limited. See this list and you'll begin to see the limited and destructive effects excessive past and future can have on you Now.

SOLUTION

1. Learn to practice Acceptance of your current situation.
   

2. Learn to practice Gratitude. Realize how abundant your life is already, and be grateful for what you now have.
   

3. Begin to understand your mind and begin to disassociate from it. Avoid letting it send you into endless thoughts of past and future.